


The Hopeless And The Cynical

by darkraven66



Category: Original Work
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-21
Updated: 2016-07-21
Packaged: 2018-07-25 22:04:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 31
Words: 33,536
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7548946
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/darkraven66/pseuds/darkraven66
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is a story about Catherine Chapman, a cynical romantic, and Matthew Red, a hopeless romantic, and how they find the best in each others flaws.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

"Romance is just a sugar coated word for being an idiot and doing idiotic things" I screamed to my friend who was in my bedroom and most probably snooping around and trying to find some evidence of anyone spending the night there, she always wanted to find out and in the end she was always disappointed.

I was in my bathroom taking a quick shower since I woke up late and had to get the office to complete my work and meet Mr. Red, Mr. Red was my boss and he gave me a call yesterday saying that a new guy was going to come tomorrow and that I had to show him around. 

"Well sometimes being an idiot is important and also fun" said Jenna, she was such a hopeless girl, well a hopeless romantic girl since she always thought that there is good in everyone and she knew that anyone could love so she would date as many guys so that she could find the one, whatever that is, so she has 4 exes and is currently dating her 5th boyfriend whose name I could never remember, probably Luke or some other douche bag name.

I got out of the shower and made sure that I didn't slip on any of the water puddles that I made while showering, I picked up my blue towel that my friends had gifted me when I first moved here, it had my name in silver written on it, I took another smaller towel and dried my hair, I took the blue one and wrapped it around my body and looked at the mirror an started to check my curves and then got out of the bathroom

I looked over at Jenna who was staring at me like an alcoholic drunk guy at a bar staring at a beer, I just smile at her and open my closet and rummage through my clothes till I find clothes that we at least a bit professional, I take out my white shirt and black skirt and my black stockings, I went to my makeup table and picked up my mascara and started to do my makeup, "you don't have to put on makeup, you know? You are so pretty without makeup" I looked over at her and rolled my eyes but thought she was right so I just put on my mascara and lotion.

I only looked pretty because of my genes, my mom had beautiful features and my dad had great height and I inherited both but my brother had inherited my father's intelligence and my mother's charisma and I earned my father's humor and my mother's creativity but it was good that I was creative, me being the head of design of the company ZigZag.

I combed my long, brown and wavy hair and asked Jenna "hey should I tie my hair or let it loose?" Jenna looked up from her phone and started at me for 1 minute and then finally said "let it down, it frames your face better" I let my hair down and Jenna comes over to the makeup table and takes my comb and begins combing her short and blonde hair

I go out and see my small cat, Felix, being lazy and laying on the couch and I go up to him and rub his head a bit and then go to get my heels that were for some reason in the kitchen, as I put on my heels I see Jenna coming out of my room and going up to my cat and brushing its tuxedo fur and I took out a bottle of water and drank from it and finally after Jenna wore her sandals which matched her yellow and white sundress.

I ask her "hey do you want anything to eat or drink?" she turns to me and tells me "nah, I had breakfast at my house earlier" I nod and put the bottle back in the fridge, I put some cat food in the bowl for Felix and the take my bag and keys and we leave the house, I lock my door and we both go the elevator and I press the button and wait for it to come up "so does that mean you will never get married?" Jenna says and I turn to her and think about it for some time and then smirk and say "most marriages don't have romance in them" Jenna's expression becomes stunned and she playfully slaps me and we both laugh and get into the elevator and we wait to get to the parking lot.

As we wait, we talk about what we were going to do for dinner and I say that we should go out for dinner and bring the new guy with us. When we reach I go up to my car and unlock it, Jenna gets into the front seat and I put out bags in the backseat, I sit at the driver's seat and reverse and Jenna turns on the radio and the song 'love like fools' begins to play and Jenna looks at me and says "this is a great song for you" I look at her and say "oh shut up" she laughs and I just look at her and roll my eyes and we leave the apartment

Jenna looks out the window and says "isn't Seattle just a beautiful city, I am so glad we moved here" I smile and say "yes I am glad we thought of it" Jenna and I have been friends for a long time and when we left college, we thought that it would be a good idea to move to Seattle together and we thought that we would be roommates but then Jenna met her first boyfriend and since he would keep coming over, Jenna bought a new apartment which was close to mine.

After about 15 minutes we reached the company parking lot and I parked the car and Jenna got out and picked up her bag and I picked up mine, on the way to the reception Jenna noticed a guy waiting inside and said "hey isn't that guy hot?" I look up to where the guy was and saw that he had brown hair and had a cute smile so he wasn't that bad looking "yes he's okay" Jenna giggles and says "I think that's the new guy" I think about it

well Mr. Red didn't really give me a detailed description but since he was the only guy in the reception and he looked a bit nervous so I nod, it could be the new guy then I thought about what Mr. Red had told me earlier that week I had received a mail from my boss Mr. Red in which he told me that there was going to be a new employee and that I had to be his guide since he was working in my area of expertise, he didn't tell me a date. Until yesterday 

When we finally got into the lobby the guy looked up from his phone and at Jenna and I and he smiles and walks towards us "Hi, I'm Matthew, I am the new guy you must have heard of" the guy said with a way too cheery tone, I put my hand out for him to shake and he took my hand in both of his hands and says "I am so excited to finally be meeting you!"

I just stare at him and say "welcome to ZigZag, my name is Catherine Chapman, and this is my assistant, Jenna Olive" after I pull my hand away the guy goes over to Jenna and shakes her hand and exchange greetings, I go up to the elevator and press the button and wait for Jenna and Matthew to be done chatting so that we could get to work and I won't get shout at by my boss but those two were taking their sweet time, when the elevator did come I turn to Jenna and say "hey! Can you guys hurry up?" I guess they both finally realize that they were chatting for way too long and we all got into the elevator.

I look over at Jenna from the corner of my eye and see that she was smiling at Matthew and I realize that this guy was most probably going to be her 6th boyfriend, I ignore them as they start to chat again and when we reach, I walk straight to my office and shut the door and put my bag on my desk and take out my laptop and notepad and begin to check my e-mails for any updates on the website and the inventory if they are full or still have space left.

After what feels like 2 hours, Jenna opens my door and asks "hey Mr. Red and Matthew are here to see you, are you free?" I close my laptop and say "yes I am free, let them in and also get some coffee for us and for yourself" I take out my credit card from my purse and hand it to Jenna, she thanks me and leaves and the door opens again and Mr. Red and Matthew walk in, I stand up and greet them and ask them to sit and I sit as well, Mr. Red is a short man with a fat body, he has a bit to no hair and has a very snobby face but is actually a very kind man and never shouts or gets angry at anyone unless they deserve it, Matthew is just sitting there and looks very calm for someone who is sitting next to the head of the company and is just smiling at me.

Mr. Red looks at Matthew and then me and says "Ms. Chapman, this is my son Matthew Red" I feel my eyes become wider, what the hell?! Matthew is Mr. Red's son? I had no idea, Mr. Red continues by saying "yes I know you must be shocked since no one knows about him but you see, he is unemployed and needs a job but I can't get him to do anything so I was hoping you could take him under your wing as a favor to me" I look at Matthew who is still smiling at me and turn to Mr. Red and say "I can keep him as a second assistant, if that's okay with you?" I look at Matthew and Mr. Red, Matthew nods and I see Mr. Red has a very relieved expression "thank you so much Catherine, it really means a lot to me" I smile and hope that I didn't just make a huge mistake.

After drinking some coffee and chatting a bit Mr. Red leaves and I get up from the chair and go to my desk and sit and watch as Matthew gets up from a nearby sofa and sits right in front of me and says "so you are my new boss, huh?" I smile and say "yes I am, I hope we get along well" and Matthew smiles and says "it would be hard not to get along with such a beautiful woman" I just stare at him and think 'I'm not getting paid enough for this'.


	2. Chapter 2

"I am getting real tired of your shit Jeremy!" I hear Alice scream from the hallway, Alice screaming at Jeremy was a better wake-up call than an alarm, at this moment Alice was most probably packing her things up or throwing stuff around and my roommate, Jeremy, who was also my very good friend, was probably eating breakfast at the kitchen counter and ignoring all the abuse and books that Alice was throwing towards him.

I get up and go over to my mirror to check whether I need to shave or not for this meeting that I had with my dad and his head of design, I go inside my bathroom and take a quick shower and brush my teeth and shave because I need to look good since I actually really needed this job since I was fired from my last, I was flat broke and I needed to pay my side of the rent and had to pay back Jeremy for all the things he had to pay for since I was too poor to pay.

I go to my closet and take out my best suit, which was grey and was big for me when I was younger but I was sure that now I must fit into it and spray a bit of deodorant on it since I hadn't worn it since I graduated.

I began to put on the tie but then realize I don't know how to make a tie so I think Jeremy or Alice may know how so I go out and right as I open the door a book goes flying by and I turn to see Alice holding all of Jeremy's medical books and next to her was her suitcase and purse, she had this very angry and sad expression but when she sees me her expressions softens and she comes up to me and says "oh good morning Matthew, sorry did the noise I make wake you? Here let me help you with that tie" I smile and hand her my tie and which she ties it around my neck and while she is tying it I say "thank you Alice and Good morning, what happened between you and Jeremy?" she doesn't look up but she says in a very neutral tone "oh I just found out he was cheating on me with that blonde bimbo from the party a few weeks ago" I look down at her in shock and think why wasn't she crying but I knew she was a very strong person but I see how much pain she is in so after she ties my tie I give her a hug and she whispers in my ear "you are such a sweet man Jeremy, any girl would be so lucky to have you" I smile and thank her and she smiles back

As I leave she continues to throw the books and I go to the kitchen where I see Jeremy eating his favorite cereal at the counter and I give him a quick slap on the back of his head and he looks up and says "ow! Oh I guess she told you, huh?" I nod and he laughs and says "it was going to happen someday; I thought I'd get a bit of fun out of it" I look at him sternly and say "you shouldn't play with woman's feeling like that Jeremy, it hurts them more than you think" I think that maybe that wasn't the best thing to say since it sounded pretty sexist, he looks at me and smirks and says the same thing I hear almost every day "you are such a hopeless romantic" I nod, I was given that label ever since I was a teen and I had helped a girl and everyone made fun of me for having cooties but then I thought about it and I was pretty sure that we were all so immature and cooties was a kindergarten thing, "I am not a hopeless though, I like to have fun with girls and they should have fun out of it too but they don't" Jeremy continues and I just ignore him, I knew that was what he thought and I couldn't change Jeremy's opinion no matter what since everyone is entitled to one but I can ignore him and so I did just that, I quickly take an apple from the fruit bowl and walk towards the door "good luck on the interview!" I hear Jeremy say followed by Alice saying "good luck sweetie! Take care" I turn and thank them and wave goodbye and shut the door and lock it.

I began to worry about Jeremy since Alice seemed really upset with him but he has handled this before and I'm sure he can handle it now.

I go to the garage and get into my car and leave the house, on the way to the company, I start thinking about the time Jeremy and I first met in high school and how he was the smart one and I was the nice one, Jeremy was a tall man and he was not very muscular and had a face of a business man even though he was actually a doctor, I think about how i have had only 3 girlfriends in my entire life and i haven't kissed anyone yet, it pretty sad but i wasn't going to lose hope on finding the one for me.

I finally reach the company and I park my car and take a deep breath and go inside the lobby where a receptionist was sitting behind a large desk, I go up to her and ask "hi, I'm here to meet Ms. Chapman" she doesn't look up from the laptop and say "she isn't here right now but you can wait and I'll tell you when she arrives" I thank her and go to the sofas but don't sit since I find it very awkward to get up and greet someone and fear that I might rip my pants since they were a bit tight on me, I wait for 10 minutes by checking my phone and looking at old photos of me and Jeremy and me and my family, then I hear the doors slide open and I see these two women walk in, one who is short and is blonde but has a very cute face and the other who is absolutely gorgeous and looks so sophisticated, I assume that she was Ms. Chapman

I walk up to her and greet her, when she shows her hand I grab on to it and realize that this girl had absolutely soft hands and I was so infatuated by her and when she pulled her hand back, I realized how creepy I was acting and try to apologize but then the short blonde starts to talk to me so I thought it would be rude and so I ignore it, she tells me about the office and about how I would fit in pretty well and Ms. Chapman walks to the elevator and I look at her and the blonde, Jenna, says "you like her, don't you?" I turn and blush but give her a small nod and she smiles and I smile back and I hear Ms. Chapman yell "hey! Can you guys hurry up?" we laugh.

we get into the elevator and I see Jenna smiling at me and having this sense of hope in her eyes, she begins to tell me about her life and how she and Ms. Chapman met and about how they both are friends since they were kids and had the idea to move together to Seattle but it got ruined by the fact that she met her ex.

When we reach the office, Catherine walks ahead and goes to her office and I and Jenna just look at each other and smile and Jenna tells me how Catherine is a very serious person who never has time to chat or waste time as she takes her job very seriously and how she actually hates new people since she fears they may ruin her work process, I just smile and tell her that I would never do anything to ruin her work process and Jenna smiles and we go to her small desk which is outside of Ms. Chapman's office and she tells me about how Catherine was a huge cynical about romance and never trusted guys since she had her heart broke so many times that it ruined her and how she never trusts anyone except Jenna and her older brother.

We keep talking until my dad comes around and gives me a lecture about how I should not mingle and I should focus more on my work since I really needed it or I would end up as a homeless person on the streets, I accept what he says even though I didn't care that much about this job and just really needed the money and tell him that it was good to see him again after so long.

I ask about his well-being and my mothers, his expression softens and he tells me how he and my mom were getting on well and how they were both very worried about me since I hadn't called them in 5 months, I apologize and say it was cause I was busy but in reality I just didn't want to talk to them since I never liked them and he then gives me a tour of the company and shows me the different areas and where his office was in case I had any trouble with my new work and he gave me numbers of different people who could help me and he gives me a small introduction of Ms. Chapman and tells me that she was a very kind girl before but then grew colder after something happened when I asked him what it was, he just said that it was personal and that I should never ask her about it or she would become very angry and could kill me.

I assume that it probably also has to do with the fact that she never trusts guys.

He leads me to Ms. Chapman's room and when we get in I see her working at her desk and having a very serious look on her face which made me curious about what had happened to her that made her so cold and angry all the time, she and my dad talk and when my father tells her that I'm his son, I see he expression change from serious to shocked and I try to hold in my laughter and just keep smiling at her since even though she had such a serious personality, her face looked like someone very caring and funny and trustworthy.

After my father and her talked about how I would work and what I could do, he left and only she and I were in this big office and I look around at the paintings and pictures and look out the huge window on opposite sides so that you could look out at the road and the other so you could look at the outside offices, she and I began to talk and I compliment her and she stares at me and blushes, even though I don't think she realizes she is blushing and I smile and think 'I am going to do whatever I can to make this girl believe in love again'


	3. Chapter 3

After giving Matthew a look at what I do by showing him how I design the website, how I design most of the products and how I need to make sure the designs are taken forward and I read peoples recommendations and what they want to change about the products.

While I was showing him he kept making sly comments about the products or about the website like "well doesn't that seem too big? Or do you like big things?" I would just ignore him or give him a dirty look, this guy was trying to make me laugh but it was definitely not working but I thought that his ideas weren't that bad and he was actually pretty smart even though his appearance said otherwise

But I knew that it was wrong to judge people on their looks since I looked very sophisticated and serious but inside I love to just watch TV and read and play like a child with my cat and just spend my day in my house procrastinating because work would sometimes be just too stressful or it would be so dumb since it was so simple and I needed a challenge and sometimes a distraction.

As soon as we were done working then it had already become 7pm and I had not had lunch since I was way too busy with Matthew and he was taking his time in relaxing around me and the only way we knew what time it was and that we had to actually leave the office was when Jenna told us that work was over and that we should go out for dinner.

So we were currently waiting in the elevator in a very tense silence, I wasn't sure why but I felt like Matthew was nervous and Jenna was too.

As we got to the ground floor, where all the restaurants were, I checked to see if there were any seats open, the restaurants were very well made as the table would be outside and the kitchens would be inside and it would good since, if the weather was good then we would be glad sitting outside but if the weather was bad then they would keep a huge tent over all the tables so it would almost become indoor like and the restaurants would look like they were from Paris and the food was just amazing.

As I walked ahead to my favorite restaurant, leaving Jenna and Matthew to talk, I went up to the waitress and got a table that was overlooking the garden that was blooming outside all the restaurants.

I turn to call Jenna and Matthew to tell them that I had got a table and I was starving and tired and a bit stressed but I was shocked when I saw Jenna and Matthew hugging and suddenly I had this weird feeling in my chest and before I knew it, I was already pulling Matthew off of Jenna and I give them both a dirty look, Matthew looked scared of me and Jenna was just in shock since she probably had no idea what just happened.

I take Jenna's wrist and pull her to the side near the exit which was engulfed I vines and bushes "what are you doing?" I ask her in a quiet strong tone so that she knew that I was serious and she just laughed and asks "what do you mean?" I really loved this girl but it's when she does dumb stuff like this that makes me want to slap her across the face and make her realize that she was acting like a dumbass, she would always do whatever she can to piss me off or upset me.

"You hugging Matthew, what is up with that?!" she realizes then that I was getting upset and she just asks "what are you jealous?" I try my best not to hit her and all she does is laugh and then says "why? I'm just hugging a friend who just so happens to be that really hot guy with the amazing muscles and handsome face"

I look up and realize she is joking and I sternly remind her "you have a boyfriend, remember that? And I'm sure he wouldn't be too pleased if he found out you were flirting with newbies at your office" she shakes her head and says "I'm not flirting, I'm just being friendly" I stand straighter and say "well fine, do what you want, but realize that you are an adult and can't just go around and start 'being friendly' with everyone. Especially someone we work with and are our boss's son"

I walk away, leaving Jenna to think about what she had done and when I look over to Matthew I see him nervously smiling.

I hate this guy so much but just I ignore him and go to our table and wait for the two to talk and realize that they should be more professional and when they finish their talk and walk over to the table.

Jenna sits next to me and Matthew sits ahead of me and he keeps looking down and Jenna looks for the waiter. I think about it and realize that maybe I was a bit too harsh on Jenna.

I turn to her and she looks at me and I give her a quick apology and she smiles and gives me a hug and whispers "I'm sorry, I was acting dumb and you're right I'm sure Alex wouldn't be too pleased" I let her go and we both turn to look at Matthew who looked like he was blushing and I just ignore it and when the waiter does arrive.

I order my usual, which consists of a steamed chicken breast and a variety of vegetables all drenched in white wine, Jenna orders a chicken Caesar salad and a chicken red sauce pasta bowl and Matthew who seemed shy just ordered a pizza and we all ordered beer and while waiting for the drinks and food.

Jenna and Matthew begin to talk again and I hear them talking about their personal lives and I hear Jenna say "like I said Catherine is a huge Cynical Romantic so what do you think about that?" and I look at Matthew for some answer or at least some reaction and he smiles and say "well light cannot live without dark and dark cannot live without light".

I look at him and feel my mouth open a bit and my eyes become slightly wider and I keep staring at him and he looks at me and starts to blush again and I feel embarrassed and I cough and look at the waiter who is coming with our food and when we get out food.

I quickly start to eat and I look at Jenna who looks so proud of Matthew for some unknown reason, probably for saying what he said.

They begin to talk again and Matthew asks me "so tell me about you Catherine?" I look up and hold my well known neutral expression and I say in a neutral tone "I live in a small apartment and I have a pat cat, Felix, I have an older brother and father, my mother died when I was younger and my sister died after her."

After telling him all that I see that his expression becomes more emotional and I think I may have been to straight forward, I mean it's not every day that someone tells you that their mom and sister are dead but it was the truth and I had no interest in lying or trying to make a huge story.

I look at Jenna who has a very sad expression and I think about apologizing but then Jenna starts talking about pets and I thank her internally for that since It would be super awkward if I apologized for telling him the truth in a straightforward manner.

After 2 hours we all finish our food and drinks and we leave the restaurant and Jenna and Matthew exchange numbers and I go up to Matthew and Jenna to ask them if we could get home already since I was really tired after such a long day and he asks me "hey, could I have your number too?" I smile and give my number and he gives me his.

I ask "so what time will you be at work tomorrow" he takes some time and says "most probably by 8" I nod and tell him that tomorrow is probably going to be a slow day and he smiles and he opens his arms for a hug and I give him a nervous smile since I'm not really a big hugger but in the end hug him and we say goodbye and he goes up to Jenna and gives her a hug too and he goes to his car and Jenna's boyfriend comes to pick her up and I wave her goodbye and I go to my car and sit in the seat for 10 minutes just trying to process what had happened since it almost went by way too fast.

I look over and see Matthew standing outside of what seems to be his car and he screaming into his phone and I just watch as he gets frustrated and screams many cusses into the phone and I start to think that maybe this guy isn't as sweet as I thought he was.

After 5 minutes he hangs up and gets into the car and begins to drive away and I think that he was most probably talking to his roommate since he said was always such a useless guy around the house and was a dick to girls.

I start to drive home as well and think about the day and how I had acted to Matthew and maybe I was being a bit too rough on him and I should show him a bit of kindness since it is his first day but then I laugh and think I was acting like a pussy.

I finally get to my apartments and I rest my head on my steering wheel and think 'what the hell am I going to do with that guy?'


	4. Chapter 4

After Catherine gave me a show of what she does, I kept trying to make her smile since she looked like she was in a really bad mood and I even shared some ideas that I think she liked or maybe not but I could tell by how serious she worked and how she sounded whenever she got a call that this woman was seriously something else and honestly, I was starting to fall for her.

The way she talked and how smart she was, and when she would make jokes they would actually be funny but she still seemed so calm when things were getting out of hand and she seemed so chill and there were times when she would just relax and when she did, she looked so relaxed and happy and absolutely beautiful to me but I knew that this girl was going to be hard to crack so I just needed more time and I knew I had that time.

I would make dumb jokes in the hopes of making her laugh but she would just ignore me or give me a dirty look.

As soon as we got done working it had become 7pm and we were so busy that Jenna had to interrupt us so that we realized what time is was.

When we got into the elevator and we were going down for dinner, I realized that this was probably my first dinner date with Catherine and I started getting a bit nervous and worried that I would make a huge fool of myself.

When we had got there, Catherine had walked ahead and was talking to the waitress of some restaurant that looked Italian.

I was going to go up to her then Jenna pulls on my suit and I turn and look down at her and she asks me "so you nervous to be on your first date with Catherine?" I turned to her and I could tell she knew I was nervous, I nodded and she smiled and she gave me a look that I realized meant that she was serious about me and Catherine "no I mean, I'm sure Catherine doesn't even like me" she laughs and says "you know, Catherine is not very well known for being a romantic. But when she loves, she loves hard so don't hurt her"

I smile and think that there must have been a huge reason why she was like that but I didn't mind, I just wanted to see her happy because her smile was the most beautiful thing in the entire world and when she smiled, her eyes had this gleam in them, I thought that maybe I was being too fast already falling for her.

"I don't ever want to hurt someone like her Jenna" she looked up at me and smiled and gave me a hug and I realized that she really did care for Catherine and it made me happy to know that she had someone like Jenna so I hug her back.

Suddenly I felt this hand on my arm pulling me back and I suddenly saw Catherine looking at me like she was about to kill me and she took Jenna's and pulled her to the side and I thought about what I did and that maybe it wasn't very professional since Jenna and I were co-workers and I was hugging her best friend. I suddenly felt my pocket vibrate and I take out my phone and see that I got a text from Jeremy

Hey, how was the office? Any hot girls I can meet?

I roll my eyes and look up and see that Catherine and Jenna are still talking so I text him back

It went well and yes there are two very pretty girls but one is mine and the other is way out of your league

Oh come on! I am single now and I want some good times

You broke up with Alice? I thought you actually liked her

Yes well I didn't so.......give me her number

No

Please man

Most definitely not

Well is she very good looking or did you just fall in love with her like always

No, her name is Jenna and the girl I have a crush on is Catherine

Jenna? Nice name, if I ask nicely will you give me her number? Also you have a crush on Catherine, What are you in high school again?

Look I don't even have her number so I can't give you anything and shut up

Okay fine, well I'm going to the bar for drinks and dinner BYE

Bye

And I put my phone back and look up and see Catherine leaving Jenna there and she looks at me and I give her a smile which I think looked a bit weird but she ignored me and goes to some table at the Italian restaurant and Jenna comes up to me and says "hey I'm really sorry about that but Catherine got kind of protective over me since I have a boyfriend" I look at her shocked and think about it.

I forgot that she was dating some guy. She gives me a small smile and I smile back but inside I feel bad for telling Jeremy but then we both go to the table and Jenna sits near Catherine and I look down until I hear Catherine whisper something to Jenna and Jenna smiling and them hugging and I start thinking about what it would be like to hug Catherine and I start blushing.

She looks at me but ignores me and instead orders food when the waiter arrives at our table and Catherine orders chicken breasts and Jenna orders salad and Pasta and I think about what to order and I see that there is pizza which isn't too big nor too small so I order that and we all order beer.

Jenna starts asking me about my family and about my roommate and I tell her about how my roommate was a man whore but was my best friend and I could trust him with anything since he was loyal if he truly cared and would always back me up financially and she tells me how Catherine is a huge cynical romantic and she asks what I think about it and I smile and say what my mother had told me when I was younger "well light cannot live without dark and dark cannot live without light"

I smile and see Jenna looks so proud and I look at Catherine who is blushing and she quickly begins to eat and Jenna tells me more about herself and her boyfriend and how they met and how she also met her 4 ex boyfriends and I smile and I start to think if Catherine has any exes and so I look at her and ask "so tell me about you Catherine?" she just looks up at me with a neutral expression and says "I live in a small apartment and I have a pat cat, Felix, I have an older brother and father, my mother died when I was younger and my sister died after her."

I just stare at her and suddenly this wavy of sadness overcomes me and I start remembering my childhood and I look down at my pizza and Jenna starts a topic about her dog and Catherine's cat and I start telling her about my old pet dog that I had when I was a kid.

After 2 hours of talking and finishing our drinks and food, we leave the restaurant and Jenna gives me her number and I give her mine and I see Catherine coming up to me and I think that this is the best time to ask for her number so I ask her and she smiles and gives it to me and inside I start cheering like a fangirl and she asks about when I'll be at work tomorrow and I think if I have any meet ups so I tell her by 8 and she tells me that tomorrow will be a slow day so we can rest easy and I smile.

I unconsciously open my arms and give her a hug and she hugs back and all I can think is 'WOW' when she lets go, I go to Jenna and hug her too and she whispers in my ear "make her trust again" and I nod slightly and wave goodbye and walk to my car when I suddenly get a call and when I pick up.

I hear that familiar tone that I dread "wassup loser? Hahaha I'm just kidding!" I roll my eyes and say "hey bro" I open my door and I start to sit but then I hear something that makes me close the door "ya well dad said that you finally got a job! Great and you're working with that hot chick Catherine"

I feel my fists clench and I scream into the phone "excuse me?! Don't talk about her like that!" I felt like punching the car but I held it in "aw you sensitive? Oh come on, that girl is out of your league anyway! I would know"

I suddenly feel all the air disappear "what the hell are you talking about?" I hear him laugh and say "I dated her for a few months, but we broke up because she was being a bitch and I got what I needed, if you know what I mean? I met her in college-"

I close my eyes and hang up the phone and get in the car and hit the wheel and let a breathe out that I didn't know I was holding in and just drive home and think 'I'm going to kill him'


	5. Chapter 5

As I reached the apartments, the doors slide open and my security guard walks out from the desk and comes up to me and says "Hey Catherine, I got your letters here" I take the letters from him and thank him.

My security guard was here before I first moved in and he was a very kind man who would always help me out and throw the guys out who would come to disturb me, he was an old man but pretty tall and muscular and was always very kind, his name was Jack Macwel.

I take the letters and skim through them and see that half are from my father and the other half are from some men I used to know.

I go to the elevator and press the button and wait "so how was work Cat?" I turn to Jack and say "it went well, we got a new guy. His name is Matthew Red" he smiles and says "your boss's son?" I nod "well your elevator is here, take care" I smile and go in and click on the 5th floor button and wait.

When I get to my door, I take out my key and unlock it and I drop my keys in the bowl that sits on my small table and my cat comes running to me and I smile and rub its head and walk down the hall and go to my table and put my bag and turn to the right and go in the kitchen and take out a bottle of water.

I go to my bedroom and walk over to the closet and change into my oversized grey t-shirt that says 'kitty girl' and my black shorts.

I get out and go to my living room which is the left from my dining table and sit on my black sofa and turn on my TV and start to watch 'doctor who' and my cat jumps on the sofa and onto my lap and I rub its back.

We watch for some time and start thinking about Jenna and if she was okay and if Matthew was alright and was feeling like part of the team in the company.

After a few hours, I start to feel sleepy and I go to my bedroom and get into my bed and lie there and then suddenly what Matthew had said comes into mind and I think that maybe he isn't like those dorks that I used to date.

Then I realize that I thought the same thing when I met Alec and I get upset and I pick up the glass sitting on my table and throw it and the noise of the glass smashing throws me out of my anger and I look down and see the glass and I sigh and go to the kitchen and get my sweeper and a dust picker upper and come to where all the glass pieces fell and I kneel down in front of it and pick up the bigger pieces.

While picking up I suddenly feel something wet on my cheeks and I touch my cheek and see that I'm crying.

I keep crying and hold the glass piece tight and I suddenly feel a sharp pain and I look to see that I'm bleeding and I throw the piece away and wipe my tears with my left hand and quickly take out a bandage from my drawer and apply it on my hand and take a deep breath and shake my head and continue to clean the glass and then get up and sit on my bed.

All the memories come flooding back, about me when I was younger, me when I met Alec, when I became depressed and almost tried to kill myself, when Jenna saved me by taking care of me, how I got my job and how I got better.

Alec was a guy I met in college and he was my first full time boyfriend. But he never loved me, he only came to my house when he wanted to have sex and then he would leave but I was an idiot and I didn't know any better, I gave him all of my money and my whole life and he took it all and crushed it and all I could do was lose my mind and give up on love because I fell in love so hard that I almost died.

But then I was hired by Mr. Red since he and my father were very good friends and he knew I needed a job since I was out of money and unemployed, and he realized that I had great potential and made me head of his design and ever since then I have never trusted to fall in love with anyone.

As I finished cleaning up, I go out to the kitchen and throw all the glass pieces and look over to see my cat who looks really worried and I bend down and say "don't worry Felix, you are the only one for me" and smile and he purrs at me and I get up and go back into my bedroom and look at my phone and see that I have a text from an unknown number and when I open it I laugh

Hi Catherine

Hello Matthew

You can call me Matt, you know?

Okay I will. Whats up?

Oh nothing, just wanted to talk. Hope im not disturbing you though

Oh no, I was awake but I might not be able to reply quick since I cut my hand on a piece of glass

Oh no, why were there glass pieces?

Oh I accidentally dropped a glass

Well take care of your hand then

I will matt

Hey Cat?

Ya

I really want to be friends with you, even though you are my boss and everything

i feel my mouth open slightly and I just smile and text

Ya we can be friends Matt

Great! That's really great

I'm glad you are so happy about this hahaha

Haha ya well I admire you a lot and I would love to know more about you

I feel myself blush and I smile and laugh a bit and text back

That's very sweet Matt thank you

No problem Cat

After texting for a few minutes I start to get a bit sleepy so I message him

Hey im going to bed so I'll talk to you tomorrow, okay?

Ya see you tomorrow

Goodnight

Goodnight

As I put the phone on my table and put my head on the pillow, I look up I feel my face heat up and I start smiling, I look over to the side and stare at my phone for a few minutes and then turn to the right and get up and go to the bathroom and look at myself in the mirror and see that my eyes have bags and my wavy hair has knots and is messy so I take out the comb from my drawer and begin to comb and after my hair is finally calmed down.

I take out my toothbrush and toothpaste and begin to brush my teeth and while brushing I hear my cat mowing so I go out to the bedroom door.

I look down and see my cat sitting there and we just look at each other and after a few seconds he starts meowing again and I smile and move to the side and let him in and he walks by me and runs up to the side of my bed and jumps onto my bed and sleeps on the right side.

I go back into the bathroom and continue brushing and when I finish I spit out the paste and then turn on the faucet and clean my mouth and go back to the bedroom and jump into the bed and cover myself in the duvet and Felix curls up next to me and starts purring and I smile and rub his head and smile and look around my room and see the paintings and pictures that are hung up on my wall.

I see the one painting that I made when I was in college which was a painting of a young girl on a beach wearing a white dress and the wind is flowing and her blonde hair is flowing as well, I made it for a competition and actually won 2nd place.

The 1st place painting was a painting of a young boy who is holding a teddy bear and his shadow was of an adult holding a bottle and it was supposed to symbolize the true personality of the young boy who may be going through a lot and I found it absolutely amazing so I didn't mind being second because that painting was meant to be first

When I finally fell asleep, I started dreaming of me and an unidentified figure and we were standing on the beach and holding hands.

I found it so tranquil and beautiful, but I didn't know who the figure was that was kind of annoying for me and made me want to have someone read my mind so I could find out who it was but I guess it will stay a mystery.

Today should be a very calm and slow day so I was happy since I needed one after such a tiring day I had yesterday.


	6. Chapter 6

On the way to the house, I look around and see the dark, gloomy and rainy Seattle that I loved but now I didn't feel like falling back in love with this place.

When I finally reach home, I park outside and see the lights are on so I assume that Jeremy is inside and probably chatting up some poor girl that doesn't realize that he is just going to bang her and then drop her off at the nearest bus station. God, it's sad.

I get out of the car and walk up to the door and reach into my pockets and get out my key. I put it into the lock and open the door just enough so that I could see if Jeremy was having fun with his guest.

"Don't worry! No one is here!" I hear Jeremy scream from inside and I open the door fully and walk in and throw my bag to the side and then slam the door shut.

"It's just me, Jeremy. Had a bad dinner?" I hear Jeremy say from the kitchen so I walk in and see him sitting at the counter, with a bottle of gin and smoking, I walk near him and pull the cigarette out of his mouth and give him a dirty look and he laughs, before he can take another chug of the gin, I pull it away and put in the fridge and sit on the counter and turn to him.

"What the hell are you doing Jeremy?" I say in an angry tone so he knew I wasn't in the mood to joke around or banter, "well as you could see I was smoking and drinking but then my pussy of a roommate comes home and thinks he needs to take care of me so he takes my cigarette and drink and right now I'm fighting the urge to punch him in the god damn face" Jeremy says in a sad and pissed off tone.

"I'm doing this because you are a doctor and my best friend! I want you to be healthy so that you can make others healthy!" I scream at him and I feel my eyes become a bit watery.

"Ya well in case you haven't noticed, I'm a little pissed off since I just broke up with my girl!" he screams at me

His girl? Did he actually love Alice? That's impossible but everyone can feel love, even the most pathetic of us feel love and need love.

"I'm sorry. It's just that, I got a call from Alec" I try to say as quietly as I can. I see something move and I look up and see Jeremy standing and looking angrier than before, his fists are clenched and his jaw is tense. "What the fuck did he say?!" he asks me.

"Oh nothing, just that he used to date Catherine and that I was not in her league and I should move on" I say quickly. "That bastard! I'm sorry Matt, I really am" I just nod and see that his face becomes fuller of pity. "Hey I'll be fine and I'm sure Alec is just bull-shiting me, right?" I ask with a little hope that he might just be pranking me like he used to do when we were younger.

"Yes! Just keep that hope! You hopeless romantic, I love you so don't worry" he smiles and I thank him and say "hey I'm going to bed. I had a very busy day and I need to get to work tomorrow by 8"

"Holy shit! 8? That rough bro. well goodnight" he replies and I smile and say "goodnight"

I walk out of the kitchen and out in the hallway and look to the left where the living room was and how shitty it looked. I continue down the hallway and see all the pictures of Jeremy and his family, him and I on graduation day, he and his co-workers, his certificates and a small picture of me and my father and mother.

I get to the end of the hallway and look to the right where Jeremy's bedroom is and I open the door a bit and see that his room is as clean as ever, Even though we live in a dumb. I turn to the left and open the door and switch on the lights and see the room that is a dumb but it's also what I call home.

I walk in and throw my bag to the right and take off my shoes and throw them to the left. I go to my closet and take out my boxers and tank top. I take off the way too uncomfortable suit and put on the blue loose boxers and the white tank top that I'm sure all douches wear.

I lie in bed and cover my eyes with my forearm and think that maybe it was pathetic of me to believe in romance and in love and all that other cheesy stuff. I always end up getting hurt.

But love was such an amazing feeling that I just couldn't give up and I never should. Love is what brought me into this world.

I pick up my phone from my arm and look through my photos. I see pictures of me and Jeremy, some selfies of me that I was too embarrassed to post, pictures of my exes that I then delete, and in the end there are pictures of my family. Photos of my mum and I, my dad and me and then pictures of his mistresses that I absolutely despised.

There is this one large family photo with all of my half brothers and sisters, my brother and my sister, my mother, my father and the 3 mistresses. I hated all of them and I had very good reasons to, they were horrible and would destroy my hopes and dreams. My mother was the only one who would protect me and treated me with kindness and told me about love and how I had a very large heart that deserved to be showered on a special person.

I begin to tear up but hold back but then I see pictures of her when she was sick, she in the hospital and it all comes back to me.

How she loved me, how she taught me as much as she could before she was taken to the hospital, how she was diagnosed, how the whole family reacted, the mistresses were relieved since they would get more attention, the half siblings were cold and couldn't care less, my brother and sister were in so much pain, how I had to stay strong since I was the oldest of all the siblings and half siblings.

And then she stayed in the hospital, for months and months until finally she was put out of her suffering. I still have all the things she taught me in my notebook from when I was younger.

Alec is one of the half-brothers who despised me because I was older and smarter than him. But when we grew up he became a big man and I gave up trying. Now he takes whatever chance he gets, to shove it in my face.

I look at my contacts to get my mind off of it and see her name: Catherine Chapman. I keep staring at it for about 5 minutes but then go to messages and send

Hi Catherine

I wait and wait and keep waiting and become a bit anxious and then I hear my phone ring and I pick it up as fast as I can and see a message

Hello Matthew

I smile and type

You can call me Matt, you know?

Okay I will. Whats up?

Oh nothing, just wanted to talk. Hope I'm not disturbing you though

Oh no, I was awake but I might not be able to reply quick since I cut my hand on a piece of glass

What? I really hope she's fine

Oh no, why were there glass pieces?

Oh I accidentally dropped a glass

Well take care of your hand then

I will matt

I suddenly feel my hand moving by itself and I don't think at all

Hey Cat?

Ya?

I really want to be friends with you, even though you are my boss and everything

After reading, I think that I might need god damn drink. I feel my body begin to shake and I become even more anxious

Ya we can be friends Matt

I blush and laugh and reply

Great! That's really great

I'm glad you are so happy about this hahaha

I think that maybe this is the best time to tell her the truth but not so straight forwardly

Haha ya well I admire you a lot and I would love to know more about you

I wait and worry

That's very sweet Matt thank you

I blush and type

No problem Cat

We text for a few minutes and I look at the time and see that its really late so I type saying that we should sleep but she beats me to it.

Hey im going to bed so I'll talk to you tomorrow, okay?

Ya see you tomorrow

Goodnight

Goodnight

I smile and put my phone to the side and close my eyes, forgetting about Alec and just thinking about Catherine.


	7. Chapter 7

I hear my alarm go off and I turn to my table and see my phone, its 7am, it's also vibrating and I groan and turn back on my back and rub my eyes to take all the sand off. I sigh and look up at the ceiling and quickly throw my legs off the bed and let out another sigh. I get up and go to the bathroom and close the door and look in the mirror.

'I look like shit. Oh crap! I forgot to take off my make up last night' I stretch the bottom of my eyes and stretch my cheeks 'I really need a face mask or something'.

I take off my shirt and shorts and turn on the shower. I make sure the temperature is perfect and get in; I begin to shampoo my hair and wash it off and then some conditioner on my hair tips. I take my green tea soap and squirt it on my loofah and begin to wash, and then I take my face wash and clean my face and try to take off all the makeup.

I take my towel and dry myself and my smaller towel and tie it around my hair to dry it.

I get out and see Felix lounging around my bed and laugh seeing him trying not to fall off by accident. I chuckle and go to my closet and take out my black body fitted dress and my black pencils heels and put it on and take off the towel from my head.

I go to my makeup table and put on my eyeliner and some blush but I couldn't find the energy to put anything else. I take some foundation though to cover my wrinkles since crying last night took a huge toll on me. I check my phone again and see that its 7:30am

I go out to the kitchen and my cat follows me and I take a bottle of vitamin water and take a sip of it and then go to the living room and take my bag and take out my laptop and check to see my emails hoping for some updates at work but all I got was a email from Mr. Red. I open it and see that he had written

Dear Ms. Chapman, this is just a mail to say thank you. You have really helped me and I'm sure that you can set Matthew straight and also I have another favor.

I scrunch my eyebrows and get a bit confused since it was never like Mr. Red to ask for favors unless it was important. I continue to read the mail.

I need you to bring Matthew with you to my house on Christmas so that he can meet his family.

This made absolutely no sense to me, why would Matthew not go to his parent's house on Christmas? I assume that maybe he hates his family, just like I do.

I think about it for some time and think maybe it's not such a bad idea to take him since he should meet his family and I don't have plans anyway plus I would get a free meal out of it.

I write back an email and say that I accept and if he could write me his home address. I turn off the laptop and put it back in my bag and get off the sofa.

I go the kitchen and put some food for Felix and give him a kiss goodbye and then head out the door.

I get out of the elevator and wave a goodbye to Jack and head out. I look up and see that the skies are clear and I hope that it stays that way; I walk to my car and get in and head on to work.

As I get to the office I see people running around and shouting and I take a deep breath and walk to my office.

"Hey Cat!" I see Jenna calling to me from her desk outside my office I smile and walk up to her and she pulls me in for a hug and I hug back "hey I tried to call, why didn't you pick up?" then it hits me "oh shit!" I exclaim loud enough for a passing by co-worker to get scared "what happened?" Jenna asks scared as well "I forgot my phone at home" I say quietly and we both walk into my office and I shut the door "hey I can get it for you" she says in her sweet charming voice that I absolutely adored "really?" I ask "well ya, I mean I am your assistant anyway and also your best friend and I know you need your phone to work so yes I will bring it" I thank her and she heads off and I wave goodbye to her.

I head to my desk and sit on my seat and put my bag beside me on my desk and take out my laptop and begin to do a bit of work.

I hear shuffling outside and I assume that it's Jenna and I wait for her to come in but then Matthew pops in.

"hey Cat" Matt says in a very happy tone that actually might be a bit too happy for how I'm feeling right now "hey Matt' I say back in a tone that is more sad than I thought it would be "whoa, you alright? You look like shit and also how's your hand doing?" I sigh and think back about last night and say "I'm fine Matthew and also you shouldn't be using such profanity in my office. My hand is fine, thank you for asking" I say in a neutral tone which I think catches Matthew off guard.

Maybe I was a bit too rough on him and it wasn't his fault that I was in such a bad mood, it was that douche, Alec's fault.

Matthew just nods and leaves the room and after a few minutes Jenna comes back and brings my phone with her.

"Hey what happened to Matthew? And also your hand" Jenna asks pointing to my hand "Last night I got angry thinking about Alec, I threw a glass of water on the ground and while picking it up, I accidentally cut my hand. And I'm still a bit upset so I screamed at Matthew" I say while looking down feeling very guilty.

Jenna sighs but puts her hand on my shoulder and says "I'll tell him, and you should rest that hand. I hope you put some cream so it doesn't get infected" I nod and she smile and heads back out and before leaving she turns to me and winks while grinning, I smile back and continue with my work.

While working I hear Matt and Jenna talking and I hope Jenna isn't wasting time and chatting for too long.

I get up and go to my door and open it and see Matthew and Jenna at their desks and chatting by turning their chairs to each other, when they notice me they quickly turn back to look at their laptops. "Jenna I would like the file that has all the designs of the Company's website from last year" I say looking at Jenna and she nods and gets up and walks behind her and starts looking through the cabinet's drawers for the file and I turn to Matt and say "and Matt I would like you to get coffee for you, Jenna and I" I hand him my card and he stands up and looks down at me and says "yes ma'am, anything else?" I turn to Jenna and ask "hey Jenna do you want breakfast?" she turn holding some files and replies saying "ya ill have a vegetable sandwich" I nod and turn back to matt and say "I won't have anything" I hear Jenna cough and I turn to her and she says "Catherine you are eating. She'll have a chicken bagel" I sigh and smile at Matt and I say "and get something for you" he smiles and nods and heads out of the office.

I sit in my office and look through the designs; I finish my bagel as well. My door opens and Matt comes in holding a plastic bag with a box and some napkins and utensils inside and a cup of coffee, he put the bag on my desk and hands me the cup "what did you get for yourself?" I ask "I got a chicken bagel as well" he says in a silent tone and then quickly walks out the room.

I think maybe he is pretty freaked out since I yelled at him in the morning. I work for a few more hours but when it becomes around 1pm I hear my door open and I look up to see Matt walk in and he comes up to my desk.

"Hey Cat?" I look up and see that he looks nervous and scared so I cut him a bit of slack and say in a softer tone "ya sorry about today Matt. I'm really tired and I don't really feel that good" I see that his expression becomes for relieved and he ask "ya Jenna told me and I'm sorry too. I actually wanted to ask if you wanted to go out with me." I stare at him and he probably realizes his mistake and says "I mean for lunch! I'll buy it...since I was rude this morning" I smile and say "ya sure we can go out for lunch" he smiles his goofy grin and continues to tell me about this cute café downstairs and I think 'this guy is really something else'


	8. Chapter 8

I hear my alarm go off and I turn on to my back and see my phone vibrating and I snooze the alarm and go back to sleep.

"Get up Matthew Red! Or ill break this door down!" I suddenly jump awake and look at my door and hear Jeremy pounding on my door. I go to the door and while being half asleep I ask "what is it?"

"What is it? What is it?! Its 8:30am! You had to get to work by 8, remember?" Jeremy screams and I suddenly realize and remember that Catherine said she would be at work by 8 "oh shit!" I run to my closet and take out my shirt and jeans and quickly strip out of my PJs and put on my underwear and wear the shirt and jeans.

I go out and see Jeremy standing holding a glass of milk and looking at me, I take the glass and chug the milk down and he pats my head and I laugh and say "thanks dad" he looks at me and smirks and says "I take better care of you than your father so ya, I am your new dad" I smile and says goodbye and he waves and I take my bag and quickly run out to my garage and get in the car and throw my bag in the back and rush to the office.

When I get to the office I see that Catherine's office door is closed and Jenna wasn't at her desk so I go in and see Cat working and I say "Hey Cat!" in my best happy tone to mask the fact that I was very late, she looks very tired as well and she has bags under her eyes so she either didn't sleep or cried a lot last night.

She replies saying "Hey Matt" in a tone which sounded pretty sad to me, I look at her hand and ask "whoa, you alright? You look like shit and also how's your hand doing?" she sighs and says "I'm fine Matthew and also you shouldn't be using such profanity in my office. My hand is fine, thank you for asking" i get taken aback by the anger in her voice and think maybe she really hates me for what I had said.

I nod and head back out to my desk and take out my laptop and notepad and put them on my desk and throw my bag to my side. I start working a bit on the emails that I had received from Jenna about being an assistant for Catherine and I see Jenna coming up to me and smile and says "good morning!" I reply "'morning" she smiles and goes inside Catherine's office and I fear she might get screamed on too.

She comes back out after 2-3 minutes and sit at her desk and says "hey Catherine told me that she screamed at you and she wants to say sorry" I look at Jenna "she had a rough night yesterday" I ask "what do you mean?" she tells me how she started thinking about her ex and she got upset and accidentally cut her hand so she is really out of energy for today.

I nod and say that its fine but I was just a bit shocked since I had never seen her like that and she tells me to get ready to see her in a worse way when she gets stressed or hungry.

We continue chatting and she tells me about how she and her boyfriend had a fight yesterday about her coming home late and not eating dinner with him, I don't remember her boyfriend's name so I don't ask for any more details.

She continues to tell me about her and Catherine and how they met "Catherine was the serious one and I was the nice one" I laugh and say "I'm the nice one and Jeremy is the serious one" she asks me more about Jeremy and I tell her how he is a douche sometimes but also very protective and caring of the people he loves such as me and his younger sister and brother.

We keep chatting but then Catherine's door opens and she comes out and we quickly turn back to our laptop and she stares at us and says "Jenna I would like the file that has all the designs of the Company's website from last year" Jenna gets up and goes to the back where the cabinets are and starts looking through them.

She look at me and says "and Matt I would like you to get coffee for you, Jenna and I" she hands me her card and I jokingly say "yes ma'am, anything else?" she turns to Jenna and asks if she would like breakfast and she says she would like a vegetable sandwich and I nod.

Catherine says she doesn't want anything but Jenna says that she would have a chicken bagel, she sighs and says that I should get myself something to eat too.

I go down to a cute café that had cute designs on it and small tables outside. I ask the waiter for 1 vegetable sandwich and 2 chicken bagels and also 3 coffees to go, he takes my order, I pay and he tells me to wait.

I sit outside at one of the tables and wait for the food and drinks and I see many people walk by and I get a perfect idea to get Catherine in a better mood, I think that I should play the game that I used to play with my mother when I was younger. The game was to pick out someone from the streets or anywhere and try to guess their life story and stuff like that; it was great and pretty easy and fun.

I wait for a few for minutes but then the waiter comes and hands me a plastic bag with 3 boxes and a cup holder with 3 cups of coffees and I take it and thank him and walk back to the office.

When I get to the office, I go to Jenna and she takes one of the cups of coffee and takes out a box from the bag that has her sandwich she asks me "what did you get for yourself?" I tell her "I got a chicken bagel as well" she nods and continues her work and I go to my desk and put a cup of coffee and a box of the chicken bagel on my desk and go to Catherine's office.

I go in and put the bag on her desk and she looks up from her file and says "what did you get for yourself?" I tell her in a silent tone because I'm scared she might scream at me again "I got a chicken bagel as well" and I quickly walk out of the office and sit at my desk and continue with my work.

I keep working until around 1pm so that Jenna and I could go out for lunch and we could play the game that might make her feel better. I turn to Jenna and tell her my idea and she smile and encourages me, I take a deep breath and hope she goes with me.

I go in and say "hey Cat?" and she looks up from my laptop and says in a soft tone "ya sorry about today Matt. I'm really tired and I don't really feel that good" I feel happy and say "ya Jenna told me and I'm sorry too. I actually wanted to ask if you wanted to go out with me" then I think about what I just said and start blushing and see Catherine staring at me and I say "I mean for lunch! I'll buy it...since I was rude this morning" I stare worried that she might say no.

She smiles and says "ya sure we can go out for lunch" I feel butterflies in my stomach and I smile and I tell her about the café I went to but I don't tell her about the café since I want it to be a surprise and I think 'she is so different from everyone and that's what makes her perfect'


	9. Chapter 9

We wait in the elevator and I look up from the corner of my eye and see that Matthew looks very nervous and he might actually be blushing. This is probably his way to become better friends with me; this guy is going to be very disappointed.

The elevator stops at some floor and a 3 men in suits walk in and I give them a nod and they nod back and look at Matthew expecting him to nod back but he just stares at them and looks down at me and I say "he's new" they all look at each other and smile and the biggest one says "welcome to the team" Matthew smiles and thanks them.

After a few minutes we finally reach the ground floor and the 3 men wave goodbye to us and I wave back and Matthew takes my hand and I look down at out intertwined fingers and back at his smiling face and ask "umm what is this about?" he smiles and says "you haven't been to this Café before but I have so I'll guide you" I smile and shrug.

We leave the company area and walk on the streets and I think that this guy might actually be trying to kidnap me so I look around at the places to remember where I am.

We finally reach a small café which is yellow and pink and has small table outside with umbrellas and on the windows there are drawings of cats, dogs, cake, and coffee. This place is actually really cute.

He takes me to one of the tables and pulls the chair back and I sit on it and he pushes it in. And people say chivalry is dead. He tells me to wait and he runs into the café and I wait and look around at all the people walking by.

After a few minutes, Matthew comes back and he looks really excited now "so how are you doing now?" he asks and I put my elbows on the table and rest my chin on my hand and say "I'm doing better now, how are you?" he rests back on his chair and says "I'm doing pretty well"

We chat for a few more minutes and the waiter arrives holding a tray of a glass lemonade and a glass of iced tea and places it on our table and Matthew says "I hope you like lemon ice tea" I smile and enthusiastically say "I love lemon ice tea! How did you know?" he smiles and says "Magicians never reveal their tricks" I smile and say "Jenna told you, didn't she?" he chuckles and says "ya but still I ordered it" I laugh and nod.

We continue talking and the waiter returns with a plate of chicken salad and chicken sandwich and I reach for the chicken salad but he pulls it back and says "you get the sandwiches" I shake my head and say "I am going to have the salad, thank you very much" he doesn't give it back and instead says "you need to eat. Jenna told me that you don't eat allot" I sigh and take the plate with the chicken sandwich and he smiles and we begin to eat.

"Would you like to play a game?" Matthew asks and I look up at him while sipping my iced tea and nod "the game is that I will point at a couple or person and you have to try to guess their life" I smile and think that this isn't that bad of a game and I say "okay you point and I'll guess" Matthew smiles and looks around and then points at a couple behind him that are getting out of the car "them" I sigh and check them out.

The man is wearing a grey suit and he has very muscular but short stature, he has copper brown hair and looks very intimidating since he has cold eyes and a tense jaw and might be a CEO of some big company. The woman is wearing a very gorgeous plum dress and has long brown wavy hair and looks very shy and nervous. Almost like a dominant and submissive. I look at Matthew and say "the man is most probably a CEO of a big company and he looks very dominating, the girl, on the other hand, looks very creative and sweet and is probably his submissive. And they are married by seeing the rings on their hands and they are married to each other since the man seems very protective of the girl and the girl has a look of love in her eyes while looking at him" Matthew smiles and says "wow that is very well done" I shrug and say "I studied psychology in college"

He laughs and looks around and then points at a young couple across the street that was chatting with each other.

The boy has tattoos and seems very muscular and looks like a wrestler, but he has a very kind face and he seems to be really I love with the girl. The girl was wearing a sweater and jeans so she must not care much for her appearance or the heat, she has a very sweet face but her stance looks like she is very independent and strong. I look back at Matthew and he waits and I say "they are in college or have just finished college. The boy is probably a wrestler or soldier or something like that. The girl is independent and strong even though her face looks the opposite" Matthew claps and I narrow my eyes at him and say "I get to point now" I look at the streets and see couples and friends and business man, they all seem too easy to tell about, but then I see 3 friends walking side by side.

There is one tall, probably of Indian heritage girl with glasses and dark brown wavy hair with golden tips and she is wearing a black shirt and black jeans and holding a notebook and black pen. The boy has brown hair and looks very kind and he has his arm on the glasses girl's hip and is looking at her with a lot of love and he is carrying a briefcase and wearing a suit. The other girl has straight very long black hair and is wearing a gorgeous sundress and has a beautiful jaw line and curves but is shorter than the glasses girl.

I look at Matthew who is watching them with a lot of concentration and I laugh because he looks funny for actually using his brain for once.

He turns to me and smiles and I gesture for him to talk and he says "The girl with glasses is a writer and was probably born here, since she is guiding the other two around, she also looks very creative and is very in love with the boy who is holding her waist, the boy is her boyfriend and is a good friend of the straight haired girl, he seems to be deeply in love with the glasses girl and seems to be a business man by his briefcase and suit, the straight haired girl is best friends with the glasses girl and they look more like childhood friends and is probably a psychiatrist since she looks like one."

I smile and think that he might actually be right about them.

After chatting for some time more we go back to the office and he holds my hand again and I say "I know where the office is" he smiles and says "then why are you still holding my hand?" I smirk but keep holding hands with him and when we get to the lobby, I let go of his hand and he looks confused but I gesture my head to Mr. Red who is walking towards us. Matthew sighs and I chuckle and we go up to him.

Mr. Red looks upset and asks Matthew "where the heck were you?! I went to the office and saw you weren't there!" I see Matthew sigh and he says "we were coming back from lunch, dad" Mr. Red looks at me and I say "yes Mr. Red we were coming back from lunch" he lets out a breath of relief and says "I was worried you had quit" we laugh and Mr. Red leaves and I head to the elevator but Matthew holds my wrist and I turn to look at him and he walks to me and asks "do you want go out for dinner later?" I feel my eyes become wide and he just smiles at me and I say "ya sure" he starts blushing and I think 'what's the harm in going out for dinner, right?'


	10. Chapter 10

We wait in the elevator and I suddenly realize that this was probably going to be our first date and I start feeling my cheeks heating up and I fear that I might screw up and ruin our whole relationship.

The elevator stops and 3 really scary looking men walk in but they are shorter than me so I wasn't that intimidating, Catherine nods at them and they nod back at her and they look up at me and I am not really sure what to do at that moment so I look down at Catherine and she smiles and says "he's new" the mean look at each other and the one who I think is the leader of the group says to me "welcome to the team" I smile and thank them.

After some time we reach the ground floor and the men wave goodbye to us and Catherine waves back and I look down at her hand 'I really want to hold her hand' so take it and she turns back to me and looks down at our hands and back to me and says with her eyebrow raised "umm what is this about?" I smile and try to think of a good excuse so I say "you haven't been to this Café before but I have so I'll guide you" she smiles and shrugs.

We leave the company area and walk on the streets and I really hope that she has fun because she hasn't been having a good day and it hurts to see her like that.

We finally reach the Café and I look down at Catherine and I see her smiling and looking at the Café with amusement. I'm falling in love with her because of the millions of things she never knows she is doing, like the look in her eye when she sees something cute and how seriously she takes her work.

I take her to the small table that had a good view of the streets and all the restaurants across the street. I pull a chair back and she sits and I push it in so she is comfortably near the table. I run into the Café and go to the waitress and say "hi I would like to order a lemon iced tea and a lemonade to drink. And to eat I would like a chicken Caesar salad and grilled chicken sandwich. At the table outside, I think table 3" she smiles and I pay.

I walk back out and see Catherine looking out at the street and smiling and she looks so amazing. I sit across from her and ask "so how are you doing now?" she puts her chin her hand and tell me she is doing better now and we chat for some time.

We chat for a few more minutes and the waiter arrives holding a tray of a glass lemonade and a glass of iced tea and places it on our table and I look at her and say "I hope you like lemon ice tea" she smiles and enthusiastically says "I love lemon ice tea! How did you know?" I smile and try to think of some witty comeback "Magicians never reveal their tricks" she smiles and says "Jenna told you, didn't she?" I chuckles and remember Jenna texting me all the things that Catherine likes and I say "ya but I still ordered it" she laughs and looks down at her drink.

We continue talking and the waiter returns with a plate of chicken salad and chicken sandwich and she reaches for the chicken salad but I quickly pull it back and say "you get the sandwiches" she shakes her head and say "I am going to have the salad, thank you very much" I don't give it back and instead say "you need to eat. Jenna told me that you don't eat allot" she sighs and takes the plate with the chicken sandwich and I smile feeling proud and we begin to eat.

"Would you like to play a game?" I ask her and she looks up at me while sipping her iced tea and nods "the game is that I will point at a couple or person and you have to try to guess their life" she smiles and I really hope she like it and she says "okay you point and I'll guess" I smile and look around and then I point at a couple behind me that are getting out of the car and I say "them" she sighs and checks them out.

She looks at them a lot of concentration and after a few minutes she looks at me and says "the man is most probably a CEO of a big company and he looks very dominating, the girl, on the other hand, looks very creative and sweet and is probably his submissive. And they are married by seeing the rings on their hands and they are married to each other since the man seems very protective of the girl and the girl has a look of love in her eyes while looking at him" I smile and say "wow that is very well done" she shrugs and says "I studied psychology in college" well at least I have learned something new about her as well. I laugh and I look across the street and see a young couple and point at them.

She looks at them and her eyes have a hint of sadness in them but I try not to ask about it because I'm sure that it's personal. She looks back at me and says "they are in college or have just finished college. The boy is probably a wrestler or soldier or something like that. The girl is independent and strong even though her face looks the opposite" I clap and she narrows her eyes at me and says "I get to point now".

She looks around and then points at three friends who are walking side by side and chatting. The girl wearing glasses and has a very mature face and is carrying a notebook and pen and wearing what seems to be comfortable clothes, so she is most likely a writer or something. The boy who has her arm wrapped around her is probably her boyfriend and seems to be a business man by the briefcase and suit he's wearing. The other girl has straight hair and looks very mature as well and a very kind face, she is probably a psychiatrist or therapist.

I hear Catherine laugh and I turn to him and smile since her laugh is so sweet, she gestures for me to talk and I say "The girl with glasses is a writer and was probably born here, since she is guiding the other two around, she also looks very creative and is very in love with the boy who is holding her waist, the boy is her boyfriend and is a good friend of the straight haired girl, he seems to be deeply in love with the glasses girl and seems to be a business man by his briefcase and suit, the straight haired girl is best friends with the glasses girl and they look more like childhood friends and is probably a psychiatrist since she looks like one." She smiles and we chat for some more time.

We head back to the office and I hold her hand again and she says "I know where the office is" I smile and say "then why are you still holding my hand?" she smirks but keeps holding hands with me and when we get to the lobby, she let goes of my hand and I look down at her confused but she gestures her head to my dad who is walking towards us. I sigh since he always ruins the mood by lecturing me and she chuckles and we go up to him.

My dad looks super angry and he asks me "where the heck were you?! I went to the office and saw that you weren't there!" I sigh and say "we were coming back from lunch, dad" he looks at Catherine and she says "yes Mr. Red we were coming back from lunch" finally my dad lets out a breath of relief and says "I was worried you had quit" we laugh and my dad finally leaves and Catherine heads to the elevator but I hold her wrist and she turns to look at me and I walk up to her and try to not act really nervous and ask "do you want go out for dinner later?" her eyes become wide and I just smile at her and say "ya sure" I begin to blush and start thinking 'I better not screw this up'.


	11. Chapter 11

''So you are going on a date with Matt, huh?" Jenna asks with a smirk on her face and watching me as I clean up and re-do my makeup "it's not a date, we're just going out for dinner" I say while applying my mascara.

Jenna laughs and says "I thought you hated him, so why are you going out for dinner with him? I smile and say "for free food" Jenna looks at me shocked and smiles and says "that can't be the only reason" I laugh and turn to look at her and say "You're right, I'm not going out for dinner with Matt just for free food" Jenna smiles "I am also going out for free drinks" I continue to say and Jenna looks at me angrily and says "wow you are really one special woman" I laugh and continue to do my makeup.

I go to my office with Jenna and see Matt sitting at his desk blushing and I just sigh and go to my office and close the door and continue to work.

When it becomes 7pm I get a knock at my door and Jenna and Matt walk in, Jenna sits on my sofa and Matt continues to stand, I hold up my finger and say "one moment" I finish the mail I was writing and send it and I look up at Matt who still looks like he's blushing or nervous.

We all walk out of and I wave goodbye to Jenna and turn to Matt and ask "so where are we going for dinner?" Matt looks at me, flustered, and says "w-we can go to the r-restaurant we went to when I first c-came here" I smile and we walk to the restaurants.

We get a nice seat inside near the window and I look out and watch the people walk by while Matt orders the food for us

'He's probably really nervous' I think since he has been blushing and acting nervous around me 'poor boy'

After ordering he walks to the table and sits across from me. I rest my chin on my hands and my elbows on the table; Matt rests his hands on his lap and looks at me and back down to his hands

I sigh 'he actually is nervous, I feel bad for him' I try to break the silence so I ask "so are you liking the office?" he looks up at me and says "ya I really like the office, especially the people there" I smile and we chat for some more time about the office

"I got to know, what makes you a cynical?" matt asks, we had gotten our food and drinks, "well I guess it's the fact that I don't believe in true love and fairy tale crap like that?" I say and Matt stares at me "look love is pathetic and it's just a word for 'let's hang out with each other until one of us dies' plus its boring" I explain and Matt watches me I continue to say "love gets you hurt and it's a huge waste of time and money"

"What about sex?" Matt asks while blushing, this guy is hopeless, "Sex and love are two different things" I say and Matt smiles with amusement and says "please enlighten me" I smile and get ready to give this guy a lesson

"Sex is lust, pleasure, greed and physical but love is emotional, selfless, feeling and other bullshit. A person would spend a lot of money on love but they wouldn't spend the same amount on sex."

Matt stares at me, his eyes wide but a slight smile on his face, this guy even though he is hopeless and very shy, he is kinda cute. I guess if he asked me out, I would give him a chance

We chat for some more time and when we are down with our food and drinks we head to the parking lot where our cars are parked

"umm I guess I'll see you tomorrow" Matt says while holding the back of his neck, he must be tired, I nod and walk to my car but I suddenly feel someone grasp my wrist and pull me, I turn and suddenly I'm in Matt's chest 'WHAT?!' I feel Matt's arms wrap around me and he hugs me tighter, I don't pull back but I kind of feel awkward like this

"oh sorry I j-just w-well u-umm I" I smile and move back but my arms on his waist "don't worry, you're probably overwhelmed, don't worry about it" I let go of his waist and walk to my car

I turn around and see Matt looking down at his hands and his face is shocked and he looks like he's sad "see you tomorrow!" I scream and wave in hopes that he'll stop looking so sad, he looks up and smile and waves back

I know he likes me, I have known since he texted me that night and I even when I first met him he looked so shy.

I don't want to hurt him, but his feeling for me will just keep growing with time and I won't be able to reciprocate them, I care about him, I really do but if he falls for me, he'll get hurt. Why is he so naive? He should just give up and find a girl who can treat him better.

He's summer and I'm winter. Alone we are beautiful but together we cannot exist.


	12. Chapter 12

You finally found your balls and asked her out huh?

I'm nervous though man

Don't worry as long as you don't propose to her then you'll be fine

I read his text and sigh thinking what would our marriage be like but shake my head and think about the present

I sigh and take out my file which has the day's plan for Catherine and see that she doesn't have anything planned after 7 so we can go then

I won't propose btw how are you doing?

I'm doing fine, work is fine and there is this new hot girl called Mary, she might come over tonight

Okay

This guy, I really hope he find his soulmate sooner rather than later, he is a good guy and he does care about people close to him so I'm sure when he finds someone to love he'll care for them too

I look to my right at Jenna's desk and see that she has a picture of her and Catherine, they look really young. They probably took it when they were in college.

Jenna's wearing a purple skirt and a yellow shirt and her hair is in a ponytail. Catherine is wearing black skinny jeans and a gray shirt and her hair is colored and she is wearing glasses. She looks so cute in glasses!

Suddenly I hear Catherine and Jenna walking towards me and I quickly turn back to my seat and I feel my cheeks heat up. I hope they didn't see me look at the photo, they might think I'm a creep

Catherine goes into her office and Jenna sits at her desk and starts typing into her laptop and I think maybe I should start working too

When it becomes 7pm I and Jenna knock on Cat's door and walk in, Jenna sits on her sofa and I continues to stand, Cat holds up her finger and says "one moment" she finishes thing she was writing and looks up at me and I suddenly feel my cheeks heating up again just by seeing how beautiful she is.

We all walk out of and Cat waves goodbye to Jenna and turns to me and asks "so where are we going for dinner?" I look at her, I get shy in telling her, and say "w-we can go to the r-restaurant we went to when I first c-came here" she smiles and we walk to the restaurants.

We get a nice seat inside near the window and Cat looks out the window and watches the people walk by while I order some food for us

'I better not mess this up' I think and wait for my change 'poor me' I wait and then look at our table and see Cat looking out and probably thinking about something. How can she be so beautiful?

After ordering I walk to the table and sit across from her. She rests her chin on her hands and her elbows on the table; I rest his hands on my lap and I look at her and then look back down since I don't want her to see how nervous I am.

It's silent, kind of awkward but if I talk then I might say something stupid and mess this up but she asks "so are you liking the office?" I look up at her and say "ya I really like the office, especially the people there" she smiles and we chat for some more time about the office

"I got to know, what makes you a cynical?" I finally ask, we had gotten our food and drinks, "well I guess it's the fact that I don't believe in true love and fairy tale crap like that?" she says and I stare at her "look love is pathetic and it's just a word for 'let's hang out with each other until one of us dies' plus its boring" she explains and I watch her, she continues to say "love gets you hurt and it's a huge waste of time and money"

"What about sex?" I ask and I realize that I didn't think before speaking and I feel my cheeks heat up, "Sex and love are two different things" she says and I smile, this is fun, and say "please enlighten me" she smiles

"Sex is lust, pleasure, greed and physical but love is emotional, selfless, feeling and other bullshit. A person would spend a lot of money on love but they wouldn't spend the same amount on sex."

I stare at her, my eyes wide and I feel the sides of my lips move up. I really want to tell her how I feel and ask her out but I know she would probably reject me, but don't know till you try it

We chat for some more time and when we are down with our food and drinks we head to the parking lot where our cars are parked

"umm I guess I'll see you tomorrow" I say while holding the back of my neck, Today was a good day but tiring as well, she nods and begins to walk, I can't just let her leave, without thinking I pull her in for a hug.

"oh sorry I j-just w-well u-umm I" I say and think that she is probably going to kill me but she smiles and moves back but her arms are still on my waist "don't worry, you're probably overwhelmed, don't worry about it" she says and lets go of my waist and walks to her car

I look down at my hands 'what the fuck is wrong with me? She must think I'm some pervert, like all those horrible guys on the news! What is wrong with me?'

"See you tomorrow!" I hear Cat scream and I look up at her and see her

I love her. Not just because of how beautiful she is but also because she doesn't mind me, most girls hate guys who are clingy and cheesy, but she doesn't mind.

But she's the moon and I'm the sun, we complete each other but we can't be together


	13. Chapter 13

"So what do you say?" Matt asked with a tone of hope in his voice. It wasn't every day that your friend invites you for dinner at his house to meet his roommate "well I'll have to ask Jenna and then I can tell you" I say and pick up my cup of coffee

I was getting coffee from the break room when Matthew came in and invited me to come over to his place for dinner and to meet his roommate. He thinks it would be a good idea since we have known each other for a few months and have gotten to become friends.

I smile and go to my office and see Jenna sitting at her desk and I go up to her and ask "so Matt has invited us to come over to his place to meet his roommate and have dinner this Saturday. Want to go?" Jenna looks up with a smirk across her face and she says "is his roommate single?" I sigh and remind her "yes but he is a weirdo" It has been a few days since Jenna broke up with her boyfriend, well he broke up with her to be honest and it wasn't really for the best reason, he wanted to travel the world with her but Jenna wanted to stay here with me. She was heartbroken but she wanted to stay here and I did whatever I could to help her.

"Doesn't matter, I've dated weirder people" Jenna says smiling but her eyes have a look of sadness in them, I sigh and tilt my head and smile "Jenna.." but she stops me and says "Catherine I know 'love is dumb and I shouldn't have trusted him so quickly' but I liked him and I don't care if he hurt me, I had the best past few months with him" Catherine stands up and her face is full of anger so I don't say anything and just watch her.

"I'm sorry" I say and then go to my office and lock the door and sit at my desk and start to work and try to ignore the panful feeling of guilt.

Saturday finally arrives after a week of awkward chats with Jenna and hard work and then apologizing and having a girl talk that we both needed.

"Do you think he'll like my outfit?" Jenna asks spinning and looking in the mirror, She is wearing a red long sleeve ruffle dress that fitted her body exceptionally "ya you look amazing" I wear my black lace dress and we go out to the living room ad wear our heels. Felix meows and I go to his bowl and fill it full of food and refill his water bowl.

"Hey don't you think it's a bit clichéd?" I ask Jenna while filling Felix's water bowl "what is?" Jenna asks while putting on her heels

"Imagine that I'm the main character and you were the friend character or supporting role" I say and Jenna stands and thinks about it for a seconds and then nods I continue and say "well I would be either too focused on my job or heartbroken and you would do whatever you can to change me. Doesn't that feel like how we are right now?"

Jenna stares at me and laughs and says "I never try to change you, I just try to help you and I know that someday you will fall I love but you still might be a cynical romantic. Plus everyone is the main character in their own life" I smile and think maybe she's right. We then leave the house and wait in the elevator when Jenna asks 'so if you are the main character then isn't Matthew your love interest?" I smirk and say "ya I guess he could be a love interest but that's all he is, a love interest, he isn't my boyfriend." Jenna sighs and she says something under her breath but I can't hear it so I ignore it.

We get to the car and we begin our journey to the roommates place.

"Hey Catherine?" I look at her from the side of my eye "if you are the main character then I'm not that important, huh?" Jenna asks in a sad tone "you are the most important person in my world, don't you dare forget that" I say in a obviously irritated tone.

Jenna has always thought that she was never important to anyone and that's why she tries to find someone who will treat her like a goddess but it never works out, she would even get insecure of her looks and her body because she would read magazines full of models and such but she never remembers that she is the most important person to me.

We finally reach the house and we walk up to the front door and we wait. I see Jenna getting nervous from the corner from my eyes so I kiss her on the cheek in order to mess with her and she starts blushing and grabs her cheeks and yells at me but while yelling Matthew and Jeremy open the door, Jenna quickly realizes and looks down embarrassed and I smile and say "Thank you for inviting my friend and I to your house for dinner. My name is Catherine Chapman" I gesture towards Jenna "and this is my friend, Jenna Olive" Jenna lifts up her hand and waves and nervously smile and they invite us in.

Their home is quite big for 2 bachelors but then I remember that Jeremy is a doctor and Matthew's dad is pretty rich. They lead us to the dining room and on the table is a variety of food and pretty well made considering 2 oafs made it.

Jenna and I sit next to each other and across from me, Matthew sits and across from Jenna, Jeremy sits.

We chat and the entire time Jeremy kept flirting with Jenna and Jenna would get embarrassed and Matthew looked quite nervous and I would try to get him out of his comfort zone just for fun.

Dinner wasn't too eventful but I found out that Jeremy is actually quite an intelligent person but he is definitely a player but in the end he got Jenna's number. Matthew and I got to know more about each other and after a few drinks; he became more lively and fun.

I usually never go out for dinner with anyone so I felt a bit uncomfortable at first but as the night continued I started having fun. Jeremy and Matthew's friendship kind of reminded me of Jenna and my friendship, we are opposites but opposites do attract.

Matthew and I are opposites too; does that explain why he and I are so friendly with each other? Well aren't very friendly, I am his boss so I guess it's more of a work relationship than a personal relationship

I do like Matthew, almost like I want to shelter him, that makes sense right? Since I'm his boss and a boss should always protect their employees. I know that he has a crush on me so I'm trying not to lead him on since I have no interest in going out with him. I wouldn't mind having a 'just physical' relationship but with a guy like him, I'm sure it wouldn't work out.

I know how it would end up. He and I will start getting physical, he will start falling in love with me, I might even fall in love with him but that's unlikely, he'll want more and when I can't give him more he'll leave or I will start getting scared of the idea of him leaving me and I'll run. In the end one of us will run away, leaving the other heart broken. Relationships are like that; you either break up or spend the rest of your lives with each other, both of those options suck anyway.

Marriage is just 'let's hangout with each other until we fall out of love or until one of us dies'


	14. Chapter 14

"So what do you say?" I ask excited. I wanted her to get to know me more so I thought it would be perfect to invite her for dinner "well I'll have to ask Jenna and then I can tell you" she say sand picks up her coffee and leaves

I saw her getting coffee and I thought this was the best opportunity to ask her. We have been friends for a few months now so I thought she should get to know me more and maybe she'll actually start liking me.

I quickly text Jeremy

Hey I invited Catherine and Jenna over for dinner on Saturday

What!? Dude I invited a girl over already on Saturday. Cancel it

I gasp, but I wasn't going to let some girl he just met ruin this for me

No way, you cancel

No

I start getting angry at text him

Look all you do is get in bed with them and then break their hearts but I'm not doing that. I am doing the right thing and not acting like a scumbag like you

He doesn't reply and I realize that I just sent the worst thing ever. I called my best friend a scumbag just because he isn't like me? What have I done?

I quickly get home, hoping that he hasn't broken anything or changed the locks

I run in and scream "Jeremy! I'm so sorry man! I didn't mean that, it was just my anger talking! I'll set the dinner up for another day!" I finally reach the kitchen and see him drinking a can of beer and his face looks more surprised than angry "What the hell are you doing here?" he asks and we talk about the girl and thee chat. Turns out he read the text and called the girl and told her not to come and I start feeling guilty but then he says that it was because Jenna was coming and that he really wanted to meet her but I apologized again and he just laughed and said I was being too sensitive

Saturday finally arrives after a week of hard work and Jenna and Catherine being awkward around each other but then finally making up

"So you talk to Catherine and keep her busy while I talk to Jenna, okay?" Jeremy asks while placing the plates on the table "fine but please be a gentlemen at least and don't you dare start a fight with Catherine" I say while placing the utensils next to the plates "wait why would I fight with her?" Jeremy asks while looking into the kitchen "well because she hates guys like you and you're are a guy like you" I say with my hand on my hip. Who thought that getting a table ready was so exhausting? "heh well I am a guy like me" I shake my head and we continue to set the table.

Finally the bell rings and Jeremy and I look at each other and then we start running around the house to make sure everything is clean, when we check everything we go to the door and exchange glances and then let out a breath and I open the door and see Jenna looking up at Catherine, she looks pissed and her arms are crossed against her chest and Catherine has her hands up and is smiling down at her. Finally Jenna and Catherine turn, Jenna looks at her feet blushing hard and Catherine introduces herself and Jenna. I look up and Jeremy and see he is taken away by their beauty.

Dinner was fun, Jeremy kept flirting with Jenna but it seemed like he was really into her and it seemed odd but I was speechless. Catherine wore a beautiful dress that fit her perfectly and her hair was set so well as well, she didn't wear a lot of makeup but it was perfect because she has natural beauty, I couldn't keep my eyes off of her and I sure as hell couldn't speak. She teased me a lot and I was too embarrassed at points.

At the end Jeremy got Jenna's number, it was good but I was worried since she is such a sweet girl and Jeremy is sort of a douche.

Jeremy and Jenna, together? Well they are cute together but their personalities clash too much. Well I'm kind of a hypocrite since Catherine and my personalities clash as well. She is cynical and I am hopeless but we're still friends and I am kind of in love with her. Would she settle for me though? I mean, just being friends with such an amazing woman is a dream but dating her would be paradise.

It's weird right? I mean I have grown up hearing how it's usually girls who are so into love and guys who don't care much for it but it's kind of the opposite for Catherine and I. I always dream about getting married and waking up next to the love of my life but Catherine, well, she is more into anything except love.

It has always been like this, I like girls but they think I'm too 'feminine' or 'a pussy' but a guy who is into love isn't that big of a deal but I guess they have grown up just like me.

I don't care about what others think, I only care about what Catherine thinks about me and I'm sure she accepts how I am but she also thinks I'm a creep. I messed up, I should have just played it cool but when you fall in love at first sight you can't play it cool. Falling in love at first sight? I guess that's what happened, I saw her in the lobby and my heart skipped a beat and my mind went blank, whenever I talk to her I try to think of some way to be cool but it never works.

I guess being easily embarrassed is just a quirk of mine and when I'm around her I can't really be normal.

Oh no, I really do love her. But it's wrong, it is way too wrong, she is my boss and I'm sure she thinks I'm some creep. But trying to stop it will just make me fall more for her.

Like I read one day:

'Follow love and it will flee thee, flee love and it will follow thee'

Wait doesn't that mean if I keep chasing after her then she'll run and if I ignore her then she might chase after me?

Nah, that's like a tip for teens and when they try to get their crush to notice them.

Well I definitely don't want to manipulate her feelings for me.

Love can't be forced, it just happens. Also beneath every Cynic there lies a romantic, and probably an injured one. So I'll do whatever I can to heal her broken heart.


	15. Chapter 15

"What a cliché" I say while walking out of the cinema hall with Jenna "why are all rom-coms the same? Like they meet, they date, they fight, they split, they realize they can't live without each other and they get back together" I say while we make our way to the exit and as we get out Jenna turns to me and says "some people like clichés and can we forget about the movie and have a day out already?" I nod and she grabs onto my arm and we start window shopping

After the dinner we had, Jenna planned a day out for her and I on Sunday. It was a good idea since we needed one after spending and working so hard in the office, we planned to go see an action movie, but there were none that interested me so we watched rom-com that pissed me off, and then we thought about going window shopping and maybe catch lunch.

"Have you always been this way?" Jenna asks while picking up a candle holder, we had gone to a store that sells rustic items to make your house more 'homely', "of course, even when I was a kid I never liked fairy tales since they were dumb and made no sense" I say while sniffing a rose candle, I don't really buy items like these since I worry that Felix might eat them and also my apartment looks like a jail and I like it that way, so having a candle will ruin it. I have always like organized and modern homes since it was easier to find everything and cleaner, but people still tell me that my house is really cute and stuff like that

We spent most of the day just talking and shopping, I was a little suspicious of Jenna since she really wanted to find something, not so sure why though.

"Are you okay? You look like you are looking for something" I ask while stirring my green tea, it's September and I am very sensitive to the cold so we sat inside a café and we're having tea and chatting, "I need to get a present for Jeremy since his birthday is coming up" she says, after talking a sip of her jasmine tea, "oh when is his birthday?" I ask, Jenna thinks about it for a seconds and then says "24th of September and Matthew's birthday was on March 7th" I stare at Jenna, I forgot his birthday? Well it's not that big of a deal but I should remember my employee's birthdays.

After looking for who-knows-how-long we finally find a shop that sells exactly what Jenna wants to present Jeremy

"Excuseme but I will be buying that" we hear from behind us and we see a snobby looking woman staring at us and scowling, she's wearing a purple dress that looks like a fake and her face is masked in tons of makeup "sorry but we were here first so we are buying it" Jenna says since I'm speechless and how much this woman looks like Cruella de Vil "have a done something amusing?" she asks me in a shrill voice "oh no I'm just thinking how you found the mentality to kill 101 Dalmatians" I say while smiling, Jenna starts laughing and the reaper keeps staring at me with fury

"I don't care when you came, I am buying that frame!" she yells at us and tries to reach for the frame but I block her path and she looks up at me "listen skeleton, I don't care how rich you are or what you do, I am not handing you that frame, so why don't you just scamper out of here and get into your car and ride off to meet your cheating husband and fight with him, huh?" I say quickly, it has always been a thing of mine to intimidate people

the woman stares at me and Jenna smirks while holding the frame and she walks to the counter and buys it "well, you are a keen one, would you like to join my company, we're looking for people like you" she says while handing me her business card and I just stare at her and say "I already have a job and I wouldn't want to skin puppies so no thanks" and then walk out of the shop with Jenna "holy shit man" Jenna says and I smirk at her and say "I know"

We go to a Chinese restaurant and order some food and we wait at our table, they only thing we bought was the photo frame for Jeremy, Jenna looked happily at the frame and I just smiled and thought 'I really hope she knows what she's doing'

"So you know that he like you, huh?" Jenna asks, I nod and eat my noodles, she continues to say "so what are you going to do?" I look up and say "well he just needs time but he'll move on and find someone else, it's not that he's a bad guy but we would distract each other from our jobs" oh no, I should not have said that "wait! So you would date him if you weren't working together?" Jenna asks excited, I sigh and say "look I have no issue in dating him but I am afraid he might fall in love with me and I won't be able to love him back, that's it"

Jenna stares at me, wide eyed and smiling, "you like him?" she asks quietly I smile and say "yes, I like him but I don't love him" Jenna grins and hold my hand and says "don't worry! You might fall for him someday!" I stare at her and think 'I really screwed up'


	16. Chapter 16

"Look I am already getting a gift, from Jenna and that's enough for me" Jeremy says after taking a sip of his beer, it was odd usually Jeremy begs me to buy his a gift and now he only wants a gift from Jenna "what do you love her or something?" I say and then take a sip of my coke "I might" Jeremy says blushing and I spat out my coke and stare at him

Jeremy and I always spend Sunday together; we go to the bar, stay at home or go out for dinner. It was something we did when we were kids and it became a habit now

"jeez bro" Jeremy says while cleaning up the coke I spit "sorry it's just, you have never loved anyone, not even your parents" Jeremy looks up at me pissed and then throws the napkins in the dustbin and sits back on the sofa and takes out a cigarette and smokes it "well you should be happy, you always say I should meet someone and be happy, and right now I am happy" he says while blushing and I let put a squeal and hold his hand and ask "can I be your best man when you get married?" Jeremy pulls his hand back and says "don't get any dumb ideas"

I have always loved marriages, I have always dreamt about having a big wedding where everyone I know is invited and the honeymoon would be super romantic

"What about you and Catherine? You should tell her quick or someone else will take her away" Jeremy says and blows out a puff of smoke "I think she knows, so she might not want to be with me" I say thinking about how obvious I acted around her "well don't worry, she knows. She hasn't said yes but she hasn't said no either, just give her some time and space"

Time and space? Sounds like Doctor who but he is right, I have been acting creepy and always worrying about her but I should give her space

"so what should I do till then?" I ask and Jeremy looks up at me and says "you live" I sigh and go to my phone and calls the pizza guy and asks him to send two peperoni pizzas

Well I have lived before meeting Catherine so I'm sure I can live for a few days without her

Ha! Of course not! I love her and I will not cut her off entirely, I can text her or email her

"Well I guess we should just have a guy's day, huh?" I ask and Jeremy nods and places his cigarette in the bowl and takes a sip of his beer

We spend the day watching movies and talking about our jobs and lives. Turns out, Jeremy has deleted all the booty call numbers in his phone and now only has me, Jenna and Catherine in his contacts

He must really love Jenna but I don't remember them talking after the dinner "so how long have you and Jenna been going out?" I ask, I take another sip of my coke, "we have been going out for a few months, I think" Jeremy tells me, smiling, it's weird seeming him like this but also kind of a good feeling

Jeremy has never dated anyone for more than a week so the fact that they have been going out for months means he must be serious about her but I'm sure he isn't like me and will take it slow, even though he has already fallen for her

"I know what you're thinking" I look at Jeremy who is looking down at his lap "we've only been going out for a few months but I'm already in love with her. Well, she accepts me for who I am and understands me and treats me like I'm her everything" Jeremy starts blushing "I just want to give her the world, I don't know if she loves me but I don't care, I love her and it doesn't matter if it's only been a few months, I still love her" Jeremy says and closes his eyes and lets out a sigh, I just stare at him in shock

"As long as you both are happy, it doesn't matter how long it's been" I say and look up at the ceiling "I fell in love with Catherine after just a few days so don't worry. also there are guys who fall in love after a few hours" I continue to say and look over at Jeremy who is laughing

"Your hopelessness is contagious" Jeremy says and I look at him and smile and say "I hope in a good way" Jeremy looks at me and says in a quiet tone "in the best way"


	17. Chapter 17

I look into the mirror 'I can't believe I actually agreed to this and dressed up' I am wearing my witch costume which was really just a long black dress with a hood

"I am sure Matt is going to keep staring at you" Jenna says while wearing her heels, she was wearing a cat costume since we decided to dress as a witch and her cat, I look over to her and say "I hope so, I do have a crush on him now anyway" Jenna looks up, her mouth open and eyes wide, I turn back to the mirror and put on my hood

"Wait you have a crush on Matt?" Jenna asks and walks to me and has a shocked look on her face "well of course, he is a very good looking guy and he is also very sweet and charming but that doesn't mean I love him"

Last night in bed, I had started to think a lot about Matt and I knew that I was starting to have feeling for him, of course I didn't want to but I couldn't stop so I accepted it

"Cat you are so straightforward with stuff like this. Wait you can't tell Matt today?!" she says, while shaking my shoulders, I hold her wrists and say "I should, instead of dragging this" Jenna looks at me horrified and says "I'm going to lock you in your room" and drags me out of my apartment

"So you really won't let me out of my office, huh?" I ask Jenna, while sitting in my chair and cross my arms across my chest, Jenna closes my office door and stands in front of my desk and says "you are going to tell Matt in the dumbest way possible and I am not going to allow that. You need to be sweeter and cuter about it" I sigh

Jenna leaves and I stay in my office and look out my window and see everyone talking and sharing drinks 'well I didn't want to socialize anyway' I go back to my desk and start working

Time passes and I keep working, Jenna brought me food and drinks and even let me out for some time when Matthew went out to take a call

Finally when it becomes 11:00 I think about going home so I pack some off my stuff and get up and go to my file drawer, I hear my door open, it's probably Jenna, so I say "Jenna I'm going home, so you can stop worrying about me confessing to Matt" I look in to my file seeing that it had a few typos so I turn and say "so you can calm down and also it's just a crush so I'll get over it. Hey why haven't you fixed these typos? I'll do them now before leaving so just go have fun" I look up and see Matt standing

He is wearing a suit with a black bowtie; he must be dressed as James Bond, but that's so not important right now

"You have a crush on me?" Matt asks in a quiet tone, he walks towards me and looks down at me, I stare at him 'yes this is my chance' I say "yes, I like you, but I do not love you and I have no interest in dating you but I thought telling you might stop it." He stares at me and smiles and gives me a tender look and says "I like you too, I was just really shy to tell you" I shake my head and say "No, I can't be with you" he looks at me for a few seconds "I'll wait then"

"What?! Don't wait" I say and he just keeps smiling at me and then says "I'll wait as long as it takes for you to trust me" I sigh and say "then I'll make you fall out of love for me!" and he shakes his head and says "that impossible" I feel my cheeks heat up 'why does he have this effect on me? Well I do like him so it's probably that'

"I'll wait until you trust me, and then I'll confess to you again" Matt says and smiles "but I, you , I-I" suddenly I forgot how to speak "don't worry. And hey you can place that file on my desk, i'll check it over" he says and then walks towards the door and he places his hand on the knob and turns back and says "you look beautiful by the way" and walks out

'Oh no' I sit on my desk, my head in my hands thinking I'm truly screwed now, but there is something I can do

I'll make him fall out of love for me and then he can move on and I can move on from this silly crush

I go out and place the file on his desk and turn back to see everyone just drinking, eating and chatting and I see Matt and Jenna speaking and they both turn and Matt waves while blushing and Jenna gives me a thumbs up

I really wish I never came here


	18. Chapter 18

"Really dude? You're going as James Bond?" Jeremy asks while eating his apple and sitting on my bed "you know eating that apple makes you look like an asshole. And I look good in this suit plus it gives me confidence, so when I confess to Cat I won't stumble on my words" Jeremy throws the apple core I the dustbin and says "so you finally are telling her, good job man. I'll call to ask how it went"

Finally here at the office, it's decorated in black and orange with many refreshments and music playing, people really worked hard for this. But where are Catherine and Jenna? I look over at Cat's office and see that the lights are on so they are probably in there; I go and talk to some of the guys from sales

After some time Jenna comes out of Cat's office but Catherine isn't with her so I go up to her and ask "hey where is Catherine?" Jenna looks up at me and smile and says "she's r-really busy" but its Halloween, why would she be working on a holiday, I think about asking but Jenna holds my arm and drags me to the bar and says "I'm super thirsty so let's get something to drink, okay?" I just smile and say "ya sure"

Hours pass by and Catherine still doesn't leave her office, at one point I went out since I got a call from Jeremy, asking if I confessed or not and when I said no, he hung up. When I came back she wasn't there but people were talking about her and her dress, I start getting jealous since I never got to see her

When the party is almost over I decide that I should go and help her at least, so I enter her office "Jenna I'm going home, so you can stop worrying about me confessing to Matt" she says with her back towards me, oh my god, she turns but she's looking down at a file and says "so you can calm down and also it's just a crush so I'll get over it. Hey why haven't you fixed these typos? I'll do them now before leaving so just go have fun" finally she looks up

Silence, complete silence, the music is drowned out and all that's left is silence. She likes me? She actually likes me? A spotlight on her, just she and I are in this room, in complete damning silence

Finally my body starts to move and my moth moves too, but the things I say are just because of the excitement and happiness I'm feeling

"You have a crush on me?" I ask a bit too quietly, I walk up to her, oh no what am I doing? I should just confess and leave, she says, sharply "yes, I like you, but I do not love you and I have no interest in dating you but I thought telling you might stop it." I stare at her and think 'this is my chance to tell her how I really feel, FINALLY' "I like you too, I was just really shy to tell you" I say and hope she heard me since i'm speaking way too quietly but she shakes her head and says "No, I can't be with you" I just look at her, well then there is only one thing to do, "I'll wait then"

"What?! Don't wait" she says while blushing and I smile, I really do love her and if this is the only way to get her to trust me then I have no problem, I say "I'll wait as long as it takes for you to trust me" she sighs and looks around the room and then says "then I'll make you fall out of love for me!" as if I would just move on that quickly from someone like her, I shake my head and say "that impossible" she starts to blush again, she looks so cute when she blushes, I really just want to make her happy

"I'll wait until you trust me, and then I'll confess to you again" I say and smile, she likes me, but is too scared that I'll hurt her so I have to wait until she trusts me "but I, you , I-I" she says, she probably wants to say something but can't "don't worry. And hey you can place that file on my desk, i'll check it over" I say and then walk towards the door, I feel so bad-ass like I'm in a movie, alright got to say something cool before I leave, I say "you look beautiful by the way" and I walk out, holy shit this suit has magic powers

'Oh my god' I think over and over again in my head, this is just like the movies and books, holy shit

"Hey where did you go?" Jenna asks, worried

I say "it seems Cat likes me and I just confessed to her" Jenna stares at me and then hugs me really tightly and goes on to tell me how she had to lock Catherine up because she was worried something might happen

Finally Cat comes out of the office and Jenna and I turn to look at her, she likes me? This beautiful, hilarious, smart, amazing woman likes me? I wave to her and I see Jenna give her a thumbs up

She rolls her eyes but then smiles while blushing

I'm so glad I met her


	19. Chapter 19

We are waiting in the elevator and holy shit, it is awkward. We are alone, just he and I, waiting to get off on our floor

"How are you?" Matt asks, he looking down at me with the cutest smile ever "I am fine, you?" I say, still looking ahead. He looks so handsome today, for some god damn reason "I'm good" she says smiling, I hate him so much

We finally reach the floor and when the doors opens I hear a lot of noise coming from the lunch room, Matt and I look at each other and then we quickly make our way to the room

"And I said 'you changed the routes, buddy'" says some guy and suddenly uproar of laughter ensues, I find Jenna and ask "hey what is going on?" Jenna turns and says "it's some new guy, Adam Brown. Don't worry though; he's on the sales team"

Not another one

"Well if he isn't on the design team then it doesn't matter" I say while heading to my office and suddenly from behind me I hear "so what your name, prince?" I quickly turn back

Some short guy, with blond hair but he has a pretty built body, he's holding Matt's chin and looking up at him and smirking. I'm going to kill him, I quickly walk towards the guy and hold his wrist and push him away from Matt, he looks at me shocked and Matt looks shocked as well

"Get your hands off of him." I say sharply and from the corner of my eye I see Jenna and Matt staring at me, while I look down at this creep "Whoa, I didn't know he was taken" he says quietly, maybe cause of the fact I just pushed him back or maybe cause I look like I'm about to murder him "we are not dating, but he is my friend and when a creep like you comes waltzing in here, I protect my friends" I say and the guy gives me an ugly smirk and says "hey lady, I think he can take care of himself" I feel like punching him in his ratty face "I oughta-"

Before I can finish my sentence, Jenna pulls me and takes me to my office and quickly shuts the door and locks it

"What are you doing?!" I scream at Jenna and she sighs and says "calm down Catherine, stop being so jealous" I look at her and realize what just happened

"Holy shit" I say and sit on my sofa and put my heads in my hands, did I just scream at a guy for touching Matt? Holy shit "ya, now you sit here and calm down, I'll go outside and talk to Matt and give Adam a piece of my mind. Don't get upset, you like him, it's normal to be a little jealous but you looked like you were going to kill him, so chill"

Jenna leaves and I just sit there

What's going on? I never acted this way with Alec or anyone, so why Matt? I've never been jealous of anyone.

Hours pass and I continue to do my work but then I hear a knock at my door "come in" I say and Matt walks in, he's holding a couple of files and pens

"So I just finished this and wanted to see if you had any issues with it so you can underline them and I can fix it" I look up, he looks 'different'?

"ya sure let me read it" I take his file and begin reading through it and underlining the mistakes or the things he could change 

"so what happened to you in the morning?" he asks while looking at my painting which I hung on my wall, he wants to know so I should tell him the truth "I got jealous or protective or something like that" I say and keep reading the file "wait, you got jealous?" Matt asks and sits in the chair in front of my desk, I look up and back down and say "yes, that's the truth"

I hear a gasp and look up to see Matt covering his mouth "sorry, I just get really emotional" I roll my eyes and says "oh shut up" Matt rests his elbows on my desk and rest his chin on his hands and says "I really like you, Catherine"

I look up and smirk, I lean towards him slowly and I see his eyes becomes wide and when I get really close to his face, I stop and say "ya I know" then I lean back on my chair and see Matt's eyes wide and his mouth slightly open and he's also blushing deeply

I smile and think 'maybe this isn't as bad as I thought'


	20. Chapter 20

This damning silence, again but this this time we are in an elevator. I look at her from the corner of my eye, she looks pale, I heard that she get anemic easily so she probably hasn't been eating right "how are you?" I ask smiling, and hoping she'll tell me the truth "I am fine, you?" she is usually very straightforward with everything but maybe she really doesn't want to talk about it "I'm good" I say and smile, she really doesn't look well

When we finally reach the floor, we hear a lot of noise coming from the break room, we share a glance then go to the break room

There is a circle of people and in the middle is some short guy, haven't seen him here before "It's some new guy, Adam Brown. Don't worry though; he's on the sales team" Jenna tells Cat, that's a good thing I don't want another guy getting to friendly with her, whoa that's sound pretty possessive

Cat starts heading to the office and I follow her but suddenly I feel someone pull me back by my wrist and all of a sudden there is a little guy standing in front of me and he's holding my chin?!

"So what's your name, prince?" the guy says, he isn't that bad looking to be honest, but I am taken, before I can say anything, Cat is standing in front of me, kind of looks like she's protecting me, haha WAIT WHAT?!

I move a bit to the side and see Cat's face, holy shit, she looks like she's about murder this guy "Get your hands off of him." She says sharply, what? "Woah, I didn't know he was taken" the guy says, what? "We are not dating, but he is my friend and when creeps like you come waltzing in here, I protect my friends" Catherine says, what? "Hey lady, I think he can take care of himself" the guy says back, WHAT?

Cat then gets pulled into her office by Jenna, leaving me and this guy here alone "anyway, what's your name?" well I might as well tell him "I'm Matthew, I'm flattered but I actually like someone at the moment" the guy laughs and says "you mean that dragon right now?" he probably means Catherine, I nod and the guy apologizes and leaves

Well that was pretty easy, I make my way to my desk and put my bag on the ground and start my computer and start to work

Jenna comes out after sometime and she sits at her desk and lets out a big sigh "what happened?" I ask and Jenna smiles and says "you'll find out soon" I shrug it off and we continue to work

I finish my write up on the last meeting and give it another read, what if I made an error "hey Jenna?" I ask and she turns to me and says "ya what's up?" "well I wrote a write-up of our last meeting and was wondering what should I do if there are errors I over looked?"

he glances at the watch and back to me and says "well whenever I finish a write-up I always give it to Catherine to read, she underlines the errors or places that you can add stuff and things like that "well I get to see Catherine, I look at her door "okay"

I pick up my file and 2 pens of different colors and knock on Catherine's door "come in" I hear her say from inside so I walk in and see her sitting at her desk, she looks beautiful in the sunset

"So I just finished this and wanted to see if you had any issues with it so you can underline them and I can fix it" I say and she looks up at me and says "ya sure let me read it" she takes my file and starts reading through it and I look to my left and see a beautiful painting of a silhouette

I want know what happened to her "so what happened to you in the morning?" I say while looking at the painting to hide my embarrassment

"I got jealous or protective or something like that" she says, WHAT? I turn and see her still reading the file, I love it when she is so straightforward about stuff like that "yes, that's the truth" she says and my eyes start getting teary and I gasp

she looks up at me and I say "sorry, I just get really emotional" she rolls her eyes while smiling and says "oh shut up" I rest my elbows on her table and rest my chin on my hands and I think of a way to make her blush so I say "I really like you, Catherine"

But instead she smirks and leans towards me, is she going to kiss me? But then she suddenly stops in front of me and says "ya I know" then she sits back on her seat and smirks. My heart is beating so fast

I am so in love with this amazing woman


	21. Chapter 21

"So you're finally going to admit it, huh?" Jenna asks, we were in my office having breakfast since we came her early "ya, I'm going to be straightforward and just say whatever I need to" I say, I take a sip of my coffee and bite of my bagel, "maybe you can act a little cute about it" Jenna says and I glare at her

Last night I had decided to ask Matt on a date, the crush never disappeared and only got worse, so I thought 'what's the harm in going out for a date?' I hope I'm not making a huge mistake

"So what are you going to do?" Jenna asks, I hadn't really thought about it "well I would probably take him to an isolated room and ask him out for dinner" I say and take another sip of coffee, "not bad" she says and continues to say "but please don't be so straightforward, he might faint" I laugh and throw the cup in the waste bin and the wrappings of the bagel with it

Matt arrives after an hour; He looks tired so I wait till the end of the day before actually asking him out

"Cat the day is almost over, are you going to do it or not?" Jenna asks and I shush her and continue with work, I started thinking about it now

The last time I actually went on a date, I feel in love. Last time I fell in love, I was hurt

But realistically, I needed to move on at some point, yes I am cynical about love, but I can still love

Matt and I were in the lunch room, he was getting coffee, he drank so many cups today

he probably didn't get a good night of rest "I better get going Catherine" He says and the look on his face is not something you usually see, a mixture of sadness and love, i couldn't drag him on like this, it's wrong

"Matthew, can I speak to you alone for a few minutes" love is strange and painful "Matthew, I was wondering if you wanted to..." love is scary and pathetic "if you wanted to go on a date with me?" but Matthew is such a kind guy, and I knew I could trust him

We're standing in front of each other, he's looking down at me and I just stare into his eyes, usually at this age people lose the life in their eyes but he still had that gleam, I never noticed it before but whenever I look into his eyes or see him smile, I feel this sudden heat in my chest and I feel like protecting that innocence

I did it again! Spoke without thinking, I'm sure he is probably intimidated or worse, disgusted. I usually never care about what people have to say about me but he is the exception

"Y-You want to g-go out with m-me?!" he says while blushing a deep crimson, what was I worried about? He is more pure than I ever was, I was too straight-forward with him "yes" I say, I stare into his eyes, I could never get tired of him WAIT! Too far too far

"Of course! I would love to go on a date with you!" he says and holds my hands while grinning like an idiot "great then how about you come to my place, this Saturday?" I ask trying to smile while calming my nerves "definitely" we smile and Matt looks down at how intertwined hands and lets go while blushing "s-sorry" I smile and hold his hand and look up at him and say "I could be romantic if I want to so be careful" he smiles even more and we head to the parking lot

"so I'll see on Saturday then?" I say before getting in the car but then I feel my arm get pulled back and I look up

I am usually not someone to get so nervous about things like a kiss, especially a kiss on the cheek, but when he kissed my cheek I suddenly felt my heart drop, out of fear? I'm not sure but it didn't matter, I'm happy and I hope he is too

But fear is a monster, it grows when you are happy, it grows to the point where you lose hope for the future

If i had a future with Matthew, then i didn't want to be scared


	22. Chapter 22

Another sleepless night and all because of one person, one person who I care so much for, Catherine Chapman. She is a huge cynic of love which was horrible for someone who thinks love is a huge impact on life

I was in my car, driving to a company my dad owned, Zig Zag, It was a sunny day which is rare in Seattle

I finally arrived; I see Jenna and Catherine sitting in the office having breakfast

Her smile, her eyes, her hair, her hands. Everything about her is perfect and I'm the complete opposite

Inexperienced, Careless, Weak, Hopeless

I am tired and upset, but I still want to talk to her, she has a unique way of speaking her mind, she speaks her mind and her opinion but she still respects others and their opinions and choices

I am so pathetic, falling so easily for someone who could never love me back, I have always been like this, falling for someone and getting my heart hurt but never giving up on them

I love her, I really do love her, people would think I'm crazy for loving someone so quickly and easily but I am crazy for her

Even if she could never love me, I could never give up on her, never and losing her was something I never wanted to think about

It was the end of the day, work was as boring as ever and I was getting ready to leave, I go to the break room to get some coffee since I was tired and needed some for the drive back

"Matthew, can I speak to you alone for a few minutes" I hear Catherine say behind me, she looked so beautiful, as always "Matthew, I was wondering if you wanted to..." I was infatuated by her looks but her personality was what made me fall for her "if you wanted to go on a date with me?"

My heart skips a beat, and everything fades to black, just her and I, in a spotlight, just like in the movies

All my fears and worries disappear, and all I can think about is her, was this it? Was this the beginning of her and I actually getting together? I loved her for who she was and in no way did I want to change her

I want to protect her, cherish her

Wait aren't I getting a bit too ahead of myself?

"Y-You want to g-go out with m-me?!" I say feeling my heart and cheeks get warmer "yes" she says and smiles slightly, her eyes were so bright

"Of course! I would love to go on a date with you!" I say and hold her hands, I smile and look deeper into her eyes "great then how about you come to my place, this Saturday?" she asks "definitely" I keep smiling after a few seconds I jump back into reality and look down at our hands intertwined and let go 

"s-sorry" I say and she smiles at me and holds my hand again "I could be romantic if I want to so be careful" I smile and we head to the parking lot

"So I'll see on Saturday then?" she says and suddenly my heart jumps into my throat, I grab her arm and pull her back, I give her a kiss on the cheek

I have never had the confidence to do anything like this since I was worried that the person I kiss would think I'm crazy but I couldn't hold back

Love really makes you act like an idiot and I could bet i was the biggest idiot she knows


	23. Chapter 23

"So which character do you most relate to in romantic comedies" Matt asks and takes a sip of his beer

We're sitting in my living room, I am wearing just a t-shirt and black jeans but he dressed up quite classy-like, wearing a black shirt and black blazer with black pants, just as I like it, we had pasta for dinner and now we were just talking and sitting on the sofa

He's sitting with his legs down, and petting Felix on his lap. I'm sitting with my whole body faced towards him and my knees to my chest

"Very specific, I guess...Kevin Doyle" I say and take a sip of my green tea "From 27 dresses? What a coincidence, I have been told I am like Jane Nichols" he says laughing and looking in to the distance, we were listening to some of my favorite music

"So what's your favorite romantic-comedy?" I ask and pet Felix's head, he thinks about it for some time and then says "serendipity, you?" not that huge of a surprise, I don't even watch rom-coms let alone have a favorite, I guess I should say the last one I saw "How to lose a guy in 10 days. It's funny and I guess romantically, okay" to be honest, I actually liked it, but it was pathetic to think someone is going to chase you down and then tell you they love you and woo hoo Happily Ever After

Real life is pain, hard work and even more pain, ya there are moments of tranquility but they are very rare and small

But when I am with him, I think I can endure the pain

"So what made you change your mind?" Matt asks while rubbing my hair, it felt nice "maybe because I couldn't get you out of my head, no matter how hard I tried and no matter what I did. You were always on my mind" I say and look at him, his face is shocked and happy, he smiles and says "You've always been on my mind, ever since I met you. When you asked me out, I was so happy that it felt like my heart was going to blast"

He's staring into my eyes and looking at my lips sometimes, we continue to chat but I knew what he wanted: a kiss 

"Well you will have to fight Johnny Martin from the movie Penelope; the kiss scene had me gasping"

''To kiss you, I would fight Ryan Gosling"

"Well you're lucky"

"Why?"

"He isn't my type, Too good looking"

I pull on Matt's collar and pull him in and kiss him, he holds my face and he kisses me back

He pulls back and says "so i'm not too good looking then" i laugh and say "you're perfect" he smiles and kisses me again 

Finally after a few minutes I pull back "this wasn't your first kiss, right?" he shakes his head and looks at my lips again "good, I wouldn't be able to take that much responsibility"

The rest of date consisted of three things: kissing, him whispering sweet nothings in my ear, and us getting to know each other better

I usually hate romance but I think I can't ignore it for him. He is so pure and I really want to protect him and show him the good

But what is good in this world? I would make up something good just to keep him smiling


	24. Chapter 24

"So which character do you most relate to in romantic comedies" I ask, my favorite question to ask since it gives me more insight into the person

I was sitting on the sofa and listening to her music and trying not to freak out, her house was so lovely, small and homely. Felix, her cat, is a beautiful black cat that was so sweet to me and now was sleeping on my lap.

We had chicken, red sauce pasta which was amazing and now we were just sitting and digesting. She's sitting in such a cute way that I just want to kiss her, but I don't want be that type of guy. I already was so nervous since I dressed so formally and she's wearing casual clothes. I'M AN IDIOT

"Very specific, I guess...Kevin Doyle" she says and takes a sip of her green tea, she watched 27 dresses?! "From 27 dresses? What a coincidence, I have been told I am like Jane Nichols" I say and laugh, she's smiling so sweetly, I try to put my head into the music, 7 years starts to play this song is so beautiful

"So what's your favorite romantic-comedy?" she asks, maybe she actually watches romantic movies, I say "serendipity, you?" she probably thinks im an idiot but it really is such a romantic film, I loved how they find each other, destiny is such a beautiful thing "How to lose a guy in 10 days. It's funny and I guess romantically, okay" well she is honest, I love that about her, and that movie is actually really adorable, how they are just doing it for their work but then they fall in love with each other, and when he chased after her ah I swooned

My life has and always will be about love, I have always wanted to find someone who I can protect and cherish and show the world to

And right when I saw her, I wanted her to be the one

"So what made you change your mind?" I ask, she probably just feels pity for me, how could she like a pathetic sap like me? "maybe because I couldn't get you out of my head, no matter how hard I tried and no matter what I did. You were always on my mind" she says and looks at me, she actually likes me? I can't hold back anymore "You've always been on my mind, ever since I met you. When you asked me out, I was so happy that it felt like my heart was going to blast"

I try not to seem desperate but right now I couldn't care less, I wanted her, I needed her but I don't have the balls

"Well you will have to fight Johnny Martin from the movie Penelope; the kiss scene had me gasping" she says, giggling

''To kiss you, I would fight Ryan Gosling"

"Well you're lucky"

"Why?"

"He isn't my type, Too good looking"

She pulls on my collar and our lips connect. 1 year ago I met a beautiful girl who was a huge hater of love and romantic things and for someone like me, she was wrong but I didn't care and right now I'm sitting here kissing her

I pull back and says "so i'm not too good looking then?" she laughs and says "you're perfect" I kiss her

She finally pulls back and I try to get my composure back "this wasn't your first kiss, right?" I shake my head, all I can think about is kissing her again "good, I wouldn't be able to take that much responsibility"

The rest of the date was complete bliss, her and I talking and being together, finally

I love her more than she knows but I also know that she hates huge romantic gestures and love entirely so I'm choosing to wait, until she is ready to trust me

I wasn't going to push her to love me. Because I love her


	25. Chapter 25

Valentine's Day, the day I despise the most, everyone is wasting time buying stuff and acting like they are in love when really no one gives a shit, especially companies because they are getting money out of this

Usually I stay at home, drink beer and write or work. That's how I spend all my holidays, except Christmas, last year I went to my dad's house and spent Christmas and New Year with my dad and brother

But today, Matt came over with a bag full of romantic comedies that he wanted to watch with me, so now we were sitting on the sofa watching serendipity, we saw The holiday and Matt cried a bit and then we started watching this, we were sitting together, his arm wrapped around me and us wearing PJs and a blanket over us, I am so sleepy but I knew this meant a lot to him

I start to remember the last holiday when I was actually happy; it was probably when my mom and sister were alive

My mom was the most generous woman I knew, she always took care of me and knew how much I hated romance but she didn't mind, she would read me stories about things not related to love

I remember watching animated movies with my sister, she was 3 years younger than me and she was so in love with stories about romance, she would even dress as a bride and pretend she was getting married

I was happy but then it started snowing and my sister who was 7 wanted a Barbie and ken doll, mom wanted to surprise her so she went out and bought one, she even called my dad and told him she was coming home but she never reached home, she got into an accident and died

I was 10 and my brother was 14, I had no idea what was happening and my sister sure as hell didn't

But then she turned 13 and she started getting depressed, she had this huge feeling of guilt over her head, she would blame herself for mom's death and she hated herself because of that

I took care of her and made sure she was feeling better but then I turned 19 and went to college, my dad tried taking care of her but he was not in the best shape since he was the last person she talked to

One day, after a long day of classes, I got home and my phone started to ring, it was my dad

My sister suicided

Everything ended for me, my whole life came crumpling down, I lost my mom and then my baby sister

When I reached home, my dad and brother were balling their eyes out, I didn't cry because I knew someone had to be strong for both of them

I became so dead inside after their deaths, but then I met Alec and I felt like I could be happy again, I was so stupid when I was 19, I knew what he really wanted and I gave it to him, because I just wanted someone to be there, even if they didn't love me

I gave him my everything, my firsts, my money, my life and then he left, told everyone I was desperate and at that age I thought my life really ended but now I could care less

Of course I was traumatized by it but I knew people sucked so I just gave up trying to make people happy

I hated everyone except my dad, my brother and Jenna

But then I met Matthew, he made me feel like I was normal, he liked me even though I was a cold-hearted bitch, and didn't want me to change

I felt like I could be myself with him

"Hey you okay?" I hear Matt say and I look up to see him worried, I probably fell asleep "ya why?" I ask and Matt wipes me cheek and show it to me, I see water and I touch my eyes, I was crying

Matt holds my face and kiss me and hugs me, I hug him back "I'll protect you" I hear him whisper in my ear

I smile and hug him tightly and kiss his cheek and say "Thank you, darling"


	26. Chapter 26

Being 'in love' with someone means you want to spend the rest of your life with this person and you can't see yourself with anyone else but that person. When you 'love' someone it just means you don't want to see anything happen to them, and that you always want to see that person/family or friend happy

I am probably both

It's Valentine's Day and I'm spending it with my darling, Catherine, I brought over a lot of movies we could watch

I was going to bring roses and chocolates but I knew she hates stuff like that so I thought we could just watch some movies since it makes both of us happy

I was holding her against my chest, we're wearing our PJs and we ordered a pizza to eat for dinner

I have always loved Valentine's Day, ever since I was a kid

Every Valentine's Day till I was 16, my mom would spend the day with me and we would go out for the entire day, then she, my siblings and I would go out to see a movie, especially an animated movie

A few months after I turned 16, my mom had to be admitted to the hospital because she wasn't getting any better, I'm the oldest of all my siblings and half-siblings so I would go and take care of her when my dad couldn't

I remember soothing my younger brother and sister and ignoring my half-siblings

I hated my half-siblings

Adda and Adelina Cole, who are the daughters of Sarah Cole, one of the mistresses, they were always so un-empathetic and would bully my sister, Aisha

Alec Smith, who is the only son of Abigail Smith, who also is one of the mistresses, is a piece of shit that would always try to compete with me and bullied my brother, Aaron

Abbe and Abbot Doyle, they are the sons of Rose Doyle, who is ALSO one of the mistresses, they were idiots who leeched off of my dad's money and work

My dad named all of my siblings and half-siblings, he wants all of his kids to be number 1 so he named them all with the letter A, my dad wanted to name me Aeron but my mom made a deal and she named me Matthew

When I turned 18 I left the house, I love my family but I do not love the mistresses and half-siblings

They hated me too, treated me like a servant and would blame everything on me but I stayed strong for my siblings

I left everything except the notebook my mother gave me before she passed away; she was a writer so she would write all her quotes, lessons, poems and ideas in the notebook

I still have it, I always read it. My mom was the person, who showed me how romance is the strongest thing in the world

She loved my father so much, and my dad loved her too but it was my grandfather who wanted my dad to have mistresses so everyone knew about the Red family

I feel Catherine move under me, I look down and my heart jumps into my throat

She's crying, not hard but tears are on her cheeks

"Hey you okay?" I say and look at her, she is probably thinking about something bad "ya why?" she asks and I wipe her cheek and show it to her, she has no idea she was crying, she looks at my hand, shocked

I kiss her and hug her, I want to protect her and make sure she ever cries ever again "I'll protect you" I whisper trying not to cry myself

She hugs me tighter and I hear her say "Thank you, darling"


	27. Chapter 27

"So are all your siblings going to be there or just your younger brother and sister?" I ask, putting my jacket on

It's December and I was invited to meet Matt's entire family, we've been together ever since January. The year has been very eventful, him and I trying to hide it from everyone from office (except Jenna), him getting really jealous and telling EVERYONE, his dad is happy that we are happy. I'm wearing a black, long dress with sleeves and Matt's wearing a suit, like the James Bond suit

"Probably" Matt says in a really cold tone, I look at him, he's putting on his shoes and looking down at the floor "hey what's wrong?" I say and go up to him, I look down at him and he just shrugs "I don't know" I sigh and lift his chin up and give him a cold look "fine, it's because Alec is probably going to be there and I don't want you to be alone with him" he says, he's not looking me in the eye so he probably is really upset about this

Matt told me he was related to Alec a few months after we started dating, I told him we needed a break since I was really scared but then I realized I needed to move on, but I was still cautious, and we got back together

"Look I will be fine, I had to grow up at some point, he hurt me and I hate him for it, but I also learned, and look where we are, I moved on from my fear of loving and trusting anyone and I am happy. As long as you don't hurt me, or I will murder you" I say and give him a kiss on the head

"Do you realize how amazing it feels to be liked by someone who hates everyone?" Matt says and hugs my waist, his head on my stomach

We go to the car and head to his place, he gives me directions and I start getting annoyed but I hold it back since, he was probably just nervous

We park on the driveway and I take a deep breath and open the door but Matt holds me hand I look over to him and see him staring at me, a lot of worry in his eyes "I will be fine, will you?" Matt nods and smiles and we head to the house

"welcome to the Red Household" a really short maid is standing in front of us, she looks at Matthew but then starts staring at me "please come with me Mr. Red and Ms. Chapman" we follow her and I look back to see Matt looking around

"OH MY GOD SHE IS SO BEAUTIFUL" I turn and suddenly see a blonde girl with pixie haircut, she hugs me and suddenly another girl with blonde hair come running and hugs me too, they are probably Adda and Adelina

"Nice to meet you Adda and Adelina" I say and they look up at me at the same time and hug me tighter, I look over and on the sofa are two brunette boys, they are probably Abbe and Abbot, they are looking into their phones

In the corner are 3 old women staring at me, probably the mistresses, and behind the bar is Charles, my boss and my boyfriend's dad, great

"Adda! Adelina! Let the poor girl go, you're suffocating her" one of the women say, she is probably their mom "You guys finally come" Charles says and I smile, they let me go and I take a deep breath and look back to see Matt smiling

"Alec, great you brought the glasses, look Matt and Cat are here" Adda says and I feel a chill go down my spine, Matt and I turn and see Alec standing there holding a tray of glasses

He is smirking at me and his cold eyes are staring me down, he is shorter than Matt but he looks like a tower, I thought I wasn't scared but I was very wrong

"Cat, we should have a little chat before dinner, huh?" Alec says and shoves the glasses in Matt's chest, he pulls on my arm and pulls me to a room

"Wait what the fu-" I hear Matt scream and I just say, without thinking "don't worry we'll just talk and I'll be right back"

Matt reluctantly nods and stares at Alec and I

I knew it, I was an idiot, I never should have gone out with Matt, I never should have don't this, we went too far too fast, I should have just ignored it, I never should have become his friend, I never should have made him my assistant, I never should have met him and I never should have known his existence

But I did


	28. Chapter 28

"So are all your siblings going to be there or just your younger brother and sister?" Catherine asks, I close my eyes and try to calm down

It's December and we were invited to have dinner with my family, it's been a year since we started dating. The year has been the best year of my life, we stayed together and we coordinated our dates, we have a romantic date on Saturday and a casual day on Sunday, on weekdays we just randomly spend the day. I look over at Catherine, she looks gorgeous in her dress, and I'm wearing my new suit

"Probably" I say and try not to release my worry and anger "hey what's wrong?" I hear her say and come closer, she stands right in front of me, I'm just staring at her heels "I don't know" I shrug and say, she lifts my chin and I look into her beautiful eyes and all my emotions come out "fine, it's because Alec is probably going to be there and I don't want you to be alone with him" I say, and look away cause I can't deal with how beautiful she is right now

I was so worried to tell her how I was related to Alec but I really wanted to be honest with her so I told her, she left for a few days and I knew she needed time since that bastard hurt her, but she came back and now there was a chance that I was going to see his face and I would probably punch him

"Look I will be fine, I had to grow up at some point, he hurt me and I hate him for it, but I also learned, and look where we are, I moved on from my fear of loving and trusting anyone and I am happy. As long as you don't hurt me, or I will murder you" she says and kisses my head

"Do you realize how amazing it feels to be liked by someone who hates everyone?" I say and wrap my hand around her hips and hug her, I love her so much because she makes me stronger than I really am

We get into the car and we drive to the house, Catherine looks pissed since she probably hates me annoying her with the directions but that's what I do when I'm nervous, I talk a lot

We park on the driveway and Cat takes a deep breath and opens the door, I hold her hand and look at her "I will be fine, will you?" she asks and I nod even though I really just want to go home and cuddle with her in bed

"welcome to the Red Household" a maid says, she looks at me and then starts staring at Catherine "please come with me Mr. Red and Ms. Chapman" we follow her and I look around the house, it's kind of the same as I left

"OH MY GOD SHE IS SO BEAUTIFUL" I hear a familiar voice say, I look in front and see Adda and Adelina hugging Cat, they don't seem so harmful now, and maybe they finally grew up

"Nice to meet you Adda and Adelina" Cat says and they hug her tighter, Adelina looks at me and smirks, they probably going to prank me again, I look at the sofa and see Abbe and Abbot, they are looking into their phones, anti-social douches

In the corner I see the mistresses gossiping and whispering, I hate them so much

"Adda! Adelina! Let the poor girl go, you're suffocating her" Sarah says and looks at Cat "You guys finally come" dad says and I feel more relaxed and smile, they let Catherine go and she takes a breath, she turns to look at me and I am still smiling, Because my Dad is giving me a happy look

"Alec, great you brought the glasses, look Matt and Cat are here" Adda says and I feel anger boiling up, Cat and I turn and see Alec standing there holding a tray of glasses

He is smirking at Cat and he's staring her down, he is shorter than me so I look down at him, he is probably trying to scare Cat, I am going to kick his ass

"Cat, we should have a little chat before dinner, huh?" Alec says and shoves the glasses in my chest, he pulls on Cat's arm and pulls her to a room

"Wait what the fu-" I scream and realize that everyone is probably staring at us, Cat turns and says "don't worry we'll just talk and I'll be right back"

I nod, my head is heating up and I hold back the want to run in there and kick his ass

I want to protect her and help her, but really only she can do this alone

I turn and see everyone staring at me, my dad shakes his head, and it hits me

He knows, he knew everything about what happened between Cat and Alec

He knew


	29. Chapter 29

"What do you want, Alec?" I ask, with my arms crossed "well it's nice to see you too Catherine" he says as he closes the door and walks to the sofa and sits, he pats on the space next to him "Alec, if you have nothing important to say then I'll be going" I say while going to the door and when my hand is on the knob I hear him say "he has a fiancé"

I let go of the knob and to look at him and scoff "do you actually expect me to believe such a clichéd lie like that?" I say in a condescending tone "well when you were younger, you would believe anything" he says while smiling, this bastard "you are smarter now though, you seem very confident and secure but I know your weaknesses" he stands up and walks to me "I know you are scared, scared of getting hurt, scared of death, scared of pain and well, scared of love"

My mind goes blank, he is standing in front of me, I keep looking forward but he's looking down at me "I know you are still hurting over your mother's death and when you almost died, you were scared of dying like your sister" he says, I listen but my mind is blank "you pretend like you are okay, like everything is fine, you fake that gorgeous smile of yours" he says and pulls my chin up, his eyes are as cold as they were when we were in college

"But I see through it and you know what, I'm sure Matthew can too. Even though he is a few months older than me, I taught him how to cheat people, how to use and destroy them, but you don't care since you don't love him, right? 

Oh wait yes, you do

and now you're here, at our house, you came hoping to meet the family and have a nice dinner but plans have changed. You will leave, you will say that you have some urgent business to attend to and you will run home and never come back here. Why? Well because, it's fun to strike fear into someone's heart and then control them and also I own you" he says and then let's go of my chin

I leave the room, I tell them I need to attend to work, Matthew looks worried, I leave, I drive to my apartment, I ride up the elevator, I wait, I walk in to my house and I walk in the bedroom and fall on the bed

My mind is still blank

The memories are flooding in

My heart hurts a lot

Usually things like this don't get to me

Is it because it's him?

He did hurt me

He took everything away from me

And now I was dating his brother

But I love him

I love him?

Of course I do! I love Matthew

Then why did I listen to Alec?

Because he scares me

He knows everything about me

Even Matthew knows everything about me too

Of course!

Alec is my past but Matthew

He is my future

I love him

I really do

I'm just scared; I love him so much that I'm scared he'll hurt me

Or worse,

I'll hurt him

I need time

I need time to think

About everything

Everything is moving too fast and I'm limping

While Alec is staring down at me

I never wanted to fall in love

but holy shit i blew it


	30. Chapter 30

"Why didn't you tell me?" I ask, with my hands in my pockets "because it's personal" my dad says and takes a sip of his scotch

We're in front of the bar and sitting on the bar stools, everyone else is behind us chatting and eating snacks

"I felt obligated to give her a job after what Alec did to her, and she did such amazing designs so I knew she was perfect for the job. Alec is a stubborn man so I couldn't get him to apologize to her" my dad says, solemnly, I just stare at him

He knew this entire time that Alec had broken Cat's heart, he probably didn't tell me in hopes of protecting her because I would bring it up and hurt her

I look over at the room where Alec and Cat are talking; I try to hold back my want to run in there and pull her out and take her home so that she is safe from all of this

She hates him so much and I hate him too, he has always been such a cold hearted person, like the complete opposite of me, he uses love to get ahead in life

"So you and Catherine?" my dad says, I break out of my hate bubble and turn to look at him, he's smiling at me

"She doesn't want me to change and she actually likes me"

"Unlike all your other exes"

"Yes dad unlike my past relationships"

"Great, then you won't start crying and eat out of a carton of ice cream"

I look over at him and he starts chuckling, I smile

My dad can always calm me down, he helps me relax when I am worried, and right now really needed that

Suddenly I hear the door open and I get up, Catherine comes out looking pale, her eyes wide and unfocused

"Catherine are you okay?" I asks and put my hand on her shoulder she shakes her head and says "I need to leave" she runs out the door

I try to run after her but Alec blocks my way "Its dinner time, Lets go Matthew" Alec says, while smirking "though I may have already had a good dinner in there" he says and licks his lips

After that, everything is blurred, I punch him and start screaming

My dad tries to pull me back, Abbe and Abbot hold Alec back

"What the fuck did you say to her?!" I scream and try to get out of dad's grasp so I can beat him up "I just told her the truth" he says and tries to come at me too "and I helped her remember her past" he says while laughing and my head starts pulsating

I get out and run outside but the car isn't there, I take out my phone and call her but her phone is turned off

I fall to the ground, defeated, scared, weak, alone

I brought her here, I am Alec's brother, I am the person who tried to open her heart

I hurt her

I am the problem

It's my fault

I just wanted her to be happy

But now

She is gone

I wanted to protect her

I knew I couldn't

I hurt her

I am weak


	31. Chapter 31

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the last chapter

It's been 3 weeks since I have last seen Matthew. I have been meeting Jenna since she wouldn't leave me alone, she kept calling me and i got so annoyed

Is this a cliché? No we didn't fight, I just need space, and I want to be alone right now, so it's not a cliché

I still work, but I work from home. I still have a job at least.

I get emails from my boss though, saying that he is sorry and he wants me back in the office.

Matthew keeps sending me mails too but I marked him as spam.

I don't want to go through this again, especially with him.

I thought he actually loved me, but maybe I was wrong.

I eat but not a lot. I clean myself and I still take care of Felix.

While washing my hands after eating a slice of pizza I hear my bell ring and I go to the door to check and think that it's most probably Jenna with beers but instead I see Matthew.

He looks so bad, he has grown a bit of a beard and his eyes have bags under them and even he looks like he hasn't eaten much.

"Catherine is not here. Please leave" I say and sit on the floor across from the door and stare at it

"Catherine, my love, please open the door" he says in a soft tone but I keep sitting and staring and holding back my feelings. I suddenly feel weak and I realize that maybe I lost all the energy I had stored up.

"Catherine isn't here" I say again and with more firmness in my voice

"Catherine, please!" I keep staring at the door and hearing Matthew begging me to open the door.

I wanted to, I really wanted to but all the energy in me was fading and fading fast.

"Catherine please.....I.........I need to see you!" I hear him scream and then a thud and I lift my head as much as I can and I start to crawl to the door and I hear sobbing and my heart jumps into my throat.

"Please, Catherine, I need to see you, I need to make sure you're safe and healthy, I need to hug you and..And I need to love you, so please open the door" I keep staring and lean my head against the cold door.

I keep hearing muffled sniffles and sobs "I don't know what Alec said to you but I promise you that I love you so fucking much and I would never do anything to hurt you!" I hear desperation in his voice and I actually begin to believe him "I love you, I love you so much Catherine! And it's been so hard and unbearable not seeing you and hearing you for 3 weeks so please! Please Catherine!"

I feel tears fall out of my eyes and hear Matthew crying outside just made me cry harder. I stand up and using what is left of my energy

I open the door and look down to see Matthew on his knees and his head down and his hands on his knees, he looks up and I see that his eyes have bags under them and his hair is a complete mess and he has a beard growing and his tears are all over his face, but he smiles and I try to smile back

Suddenly my eyes shut and my head starts pulsating rapidly and I feel faint and I fall, anemia is a bitch

I feel Matthew holding me and him touching my cheek and then my neck and I feel the warmth that I have been missing so dearly.

I was so happy being back in his arms but then I feel everything becoming dark and it feels like I'm being sucked out of my body.

NO I don't want to leave! I want to stay with him!

No

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I feel nothing.

It's all dark.

Empty.

Is this what dying feels like? Am I dead? I don't know.

I hope not.

I'm sure Jenna would kill me if I died.

Ha that's funny.

Where am I though? Why is everything so cold and dark? I might actually be dead.

It's possible since I didn't have any energy and the energy that I had left; I spent on opening the door to see Matthew one last time.

One last time, huh? That's sad.

The last thing I see before dying is Matthew in tears, smiling at me.

I caused him so much pain.

I guess I deserve to die then.

I really did love him though.

But death is like that.

Death does not discriminate between the sinners and saints, it takes and it takes and it takes.

Am I dead?

The End

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-lp2bejhm4
> 
> was listening to this when writing this chapter


End file.
